Arpeggio
by Little Donkey
Summary: Sequel to Adagio. Most of the group are about to enter their last stage of high school, Mio and Ritsu are finally together, and Azusa's going to be the club leader for a year. Oh, and there's music. Of course.
1. Have some tea?

**Title**: Arpeggio**  
Pairing(s)**: Mio/Ritsu, obviously**  
Rating**: T (I'll change it to M later. No, this time I'm not trolling you…Maybe. =3)**  
Summary**: Sequel to Adagio. Most of the group are about to enter their last stage of high school, Mio and Ritsu are finally together, and Azusa's going to be the club leader for a year. Oh, and there's music. Of _course_.**  
Chapters**: Who knows? Looking at my notes, it seems I'm planning to have several.**  
Notes**: Ah, the sequel. On the keyboard, I'm quite fond in abusing broken chords. On ff .net, I'm inadvertently fond in breaking my personal record in chapter delays. That's my brief explanation for the random title—okay, it's more of my pathetic attempt in keeping all my K-ON! fic titles beginning with 'A'. Onward with the story, yeah?

Oh, and have fun with the backing and forthing on the timeline in this chapter. _Just_ for this chapter. Because, well, I'm not gonna drag _this_ one out too.

ooooo

"Excuse me for the intrusion!"

"Ah, Mio-neechan!"

Mio, who was slipping off her shoes at the entryway, looked up to see a grinning Tainaka Satoshi.

"Hi Satoshi. Is Ritsu upstairs?"

"Yeah." Satoshi leaned forward and lowered his voice into a conspiratorial whisper. "And guess what?"

Mio blinked, wondering what the youngest Tainaka was up to. She decided to go along and amuse him. "What?" she whispered back.

"I've been finding it weird that she's stopped bothering me—taking my manga and never giving it back—so I crept into her room this morning…."

Mio raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"…and she was reading _shoujo_." His exclamation was filled with such shock and dread, it was as if he had caught her smoking.

Mio dropped her act in feigning interest. "_Really?_"

Satoshi nodded solemnly.

"That's," Mio said slowly, "quite … shocking."

They shared a moment of silence, mourning over their broken image of the brunette.

Satoshi ended his after the 29 second mark, having spent the previous hour recovering. "By the way, since you're her best friend and that, you probably know if she has a boyfriend, right?"

"Huh? A-A boyfriend?"

"That's what Mum seems to think. She's been on the phone a lot these days too. It's disturbing when I hear her…" He shuddered. "…giggling like a real girl."

Mio fought between the desire to defend the drummer and the urge to crack an amused smile.

Satoshi took one look at Mio's face, and became horrified. "So she _does_ have a boyfriend! What a liar! She kept telling me she doesn't!"

Mio smiled sympathetically and patted him on the head. "Actually, she really doesn't."

"Are you also lying?"

"Why would I lie?"

Satoshi watched Mio head for the staircase. "Mum won't get mad or anything," he added. "I even asked her if she will. She said 'no'. She actually said she wants her to find one as soon as possible."

Mio stopped at the first step. "Really?"

"Really."

Mio turned around to face the boy. "And why are you so interested?"

Satoshi shrugged and grinned. "'Cause if she does, I can tease her!"

_So it's a sibling thing._

Mio, who was the only child and seemed to be seen as a sisterly figure in Satoshi's and Azusa's eyes, did not fully understand that concept. Especially since she was also someone who possessed a personality that lacked an interest in doing such things.

She recalled her other band members.

_Then again…maybe it's a friend thing, too._

"I see," she said finally.

When Mio started to ascend the stairs yet again, Satoshi asked his last question.

"Are you really sure she doesn't? ! She might be lying to you too!"

"Trust me!" Mio shouted over her shoulder. "She really doesn't!"

She heard him grumble in disappointment. Chuckling, she made a bee-line to Ritsu's room and opened the door.

"Ritsu, where's my card?"

Tainaka Ritsu, who was sitting on her bed, looked up from the manga she was reading. "What card?" she asked.

Mio glanced at the manga title.

_Oh, it's shounen._

Almost sighing in relief for some unnamed reason, Mio leant against the doorjamb and crossed her arms. "Book card."

"What bo—"

"For the book shop at the mall."

Ritsu looked back at her manga. "It's in my wallet."

"Same place?"

"Same place."

Mio strode into the room and stopped at Ritsu's desk. She pulled out the first drawer, lightened up, and picked up Ritsu's wallet without needing to rustle through miscellaneous items. She opened it and, at once, saw her card. Relieved, Mio was about to let out her well-practised speech, that consisted of 'remember to give stuff that aren't yours back, you fool', until she saw something else, and stared.

She felt her jaw drop.

She stared for another three seconds before she turned around and slapped the wallet onto Ritsu's face.

"Oi! What are you doing—"

"What's this doing here? !"

"What? I can't even see—"

"Did Mugi give it to you? !"

Ritsu scooted back on her bed so she could get a proper look at what Mio was raging about.

In the photo window of Ritsu's wallet was a picture of Akiyama Mio, taken at last year's Christmas Eve.

Wearing a skimpy Santa costume.

"Oh," Ritsu said.

"'Oh'? That's all you can say?"

"Why are you so angry at me? It's—"

"I'm not angry at you!"

"—not like I'd sold copies of it."

"You _what_? !"

Ritsu's eyes widened. She scooted back again. Mio had suddenly grown a foot taller.

"Hey, hey! Not! I said 'not'! I didn't sell any!"

ooo

Mio pointed accusingly at Kotobuki Tsumugi.

"You said you took them out!"

Tsumugi smiled pleasantly. "I did take them out."

Mio opened her mouth to retort.

"And I gave them to your girlfriend," her friend added.

Mio was agape.

_Definitely a friend thing, too._

She tried to throw back a single, coherent sentence—"Why would you give it to—? !", "What can she do with—? !", "Why—? !"—but stopped. None of the objections that failed to fully pass her lips were logical. She ultimately sighed.

"Mugi…?"

"Yes, Mio-chan?"

"You could've…."

"Yes?"

"…Told me. Beforehand."

Tsumugi gave an apologetic smile. "I would've, but I couldn't."

"What do you mean?"

"Well … it was during winter break."

Winter break. The time when Ritsu was practising the guitar diligently at home, even during her flu, and Mio didn't have a clue.

"Oh," Mio said. She looked at Tsumugi suspiciously. "Is there anything else you need to tell me?"

Tsumugi shook her head. "No."

"Anything at all?"

There was another shake of the head. "No."

Mio's suspicions did not die quickly. "Okay."

"Please believe me, Mio-chan."

Mio stared at Tsumugi. Tsumugi stared back with puppy eyes.

Mio sighed. "I believe you."

Tsumugi beamed. "Thank you."

Mio looked around her room.

Books were on the floor and kicked under the bed, clothes were over her chair, and her table was a mess. It was break again and she had not yet cleaned up her room. Considering Typhoon Ritsu had a habit in circling around her house every other day, she had given up on organising her room after each hit and settled on doing it on Sunday mornings.

…she was slacking off.

''What's wrong?"

Mio looked up from her palm—she must've had connected her face to her hand at some point—and gave a confused face at Tsumugi. "Nothing's wrong."

Tsumugi's eyebrows knitted in worry. "Um, you kind of groaned and your face has a handprint now. Am I imposing on you? Should I leave?" She had already picked up her bag and was making her way to the door.

"No-no-no. Come back, Mugi. It's not you." Tsumugi settled her bag by the door and stood still. "It's just—my room's a mess. I'm starting to get lazy when we're about to enter third year…."

Tsumugi looked over at Mio's table where several textbooks and notebooks were in complete disarray. "You're not lazy," she said delicately, "You're just getting busier so you don't have much time on other things."

Mio also looked over at her table. "You think?"

"Yes, so you shouldn't worry too much. You're still able to find your stuff, yes?"

"Well, sometimes it takes a while to find something I need. But I guess I … eventually find it."

"There you go."

Mio nodded dully, and continued to stare at her desk. She couldn't even spot her laptop from where she sat. She usually could.

"My room's also a mess," Tsumugi admitted. "This year is going to be long."

"…Yeah, it is."

Mio felt the bed underneath her slump, and she guessed that Tsumugi was feeling comfortable again.

"Was it Ricchan who asked you out?"

Too comfortable.

Mio gave Tsumugi an appraising look. "You were waiting to ask me that, weren't you?"

Tsumugi could only smile in response.

ooo

Mio laid down her pen and picked up her ringing phone. She checked the call ID before lifting it to her ear.

"Ritsu?"

_"Hey, Mio!"_ Ritsu's voice was pain-stricken. _"You didn't tell me she died!"_

Mio's heart stopped.

"What did you say?"

_"She died, and you didn't tell me!"_

"Who—I don't know anyone that—please start from the beginning!"

_"Yui. I thought she was—"_

"Yui?" Mio repeated. She felt cold all over and didn't hear what else Ritsu had said. "What happened to Yui? ! I just saw her today—"

_"But she just suddenly __**died**__! And—"_

"What? ! How?" She shook her head violently. "No, don't tell me! Oh … god, how's … _Ui_ going to—how are _we_—"

_"What about Ui?"_

Mio paused. She was starting to feel odd.

"Ui. Yui's sister?"

_"Yui has a sister named Ui?"_

Mio blinked.

She sighed and rubbed her temples, relaxing.

"Did you just watch 'Taiyou no Uta'?"

_"Yeah."_

"Hm."

_"Didn't I tell you yesterday I was gonna borrow it?"_

"You must have forgotten," Mio grounded out.

_"Oh, sorry. But yeah, the movie's all right actually."_

"I'm going to hang up now."

_"Wait, Mio!"_

"What?"

_"Tomorrow's Sunday."_

"Do you know who you're talking to?"

_"Go out with me, Mio?"_

Mio buried her face with her free hand.

_"Did you hear me?"_

"You … it took you five days to ask me that?"

_"Shut up. It's not like you're gonna ask me."_

Mio cringed. "Well … I could, but, um."

_"See? So, is it a yes or not?"_

"What do you think?"

_"Uh…."_

"…."

_"I guess it's a no—"_

"It's a yes! Geez, did I even need to answer?"

_"I shouldn't have asked, then!"_

ooo

"Well, Ricchan must've had a lot of things on her mind," Tsumugi said, trying to defend her friend, "and maybe she couldn't bring herself to ask you personally."

Mio frowned, feeling a little guilty for expecting too much.

"And how was the date?"

Mio's frown deepened and the little guilt vanished. "She forced me to watch a horror movie. At the cinema."

"Oh," Tsumugi said. She then blinked, leaned to the side and stared at Mio.

"Mugi?"

"You've gotten better, Mio-chan."

"Huh?"

"You're not pale. You seem fine."

"Oh. Yeah…." Mio smiled, which slowly grew as the realisation fully hit her. "I don't feel faint. Maybe I am getting better!"

Tsumugi looked uncertain. "Should I ask what the name of the movie was?"

Mio's smile became lopsided. "Um, the name?"

"Yes."

"Umm…."

"Is something wrong?"

Mio looked down, picking at the lint on her bed. "…I don't know the name."

"…."

"…."

"…Mio-chan?"

Mio looked up. "Yeah?"

Tsumugi's eyes were contemplative. "Did you cover your eyes throughout the movie?"

Mio went pink. "Well," she said slowly, "I had my jacket."

Tsumugi carefully paused before asking her next question.

"Was this jacket over your head?"

"…."

After a moment, Mio nodded reluctantly.

Tsumugi paused again.

"And were you listening to your iPod with maximum volume?"

Mio bit her lip and didn't meet Tsumugi's eyes. "Ritsu didn't force me to, um, actually watch it this time," she said instead.

"Ah."

"She knows I'd hurt her if she did … why are you giggling?"

Tsumugi was indeed giggling. She was covering her mouth, but her shaking shoulders were a huge giveaway.

Not to mention that she didn't bother in smothering the sounds.

"You two are so adorable!"

Mio frowned as she felt her cheeks warm up once again.

"So where's Ricchan?

"She's probably coming over soo—"

The door flung open and Ritsu tumbled in. "Yay! It's meee—oh, Mugi. Hey!"

"Hello."

"Mio, you didn't tell me she's gonna be over."

Mio sighed. "_You_ didn't tell me you were gonna be over."

Ritsu shrugged. "I'm different."

"Sorry for not informing you, Ricchan. I came over because I wanted to see Mio-chan's new song."

Ritsu puffed out her chest proudly, hands on her hips. "Same here!" She turned to the lyricist of the group. "We need to add the drums in, Mio!"

"It's me that actually does the adding," Mio muttered.

"Hey, I did add something before!"

"…You're not talking about the cymbals, are you?"

"What? That's an important element."

"Too much and it'll drown out the other instruments!"

"Too little and it'll sound _boring_."

"You mean it'll be boring for _you_. You always like to smash them."

"Same difference!"

"No, it isn't!"

They stopped when they heard laughter erupt from their friend. They frowned.

Tsumugi wiped the tears of mirth from her eyes. When she met their questioning gaze, she smiled.

"I strangely feel like a proud mother," she said.

They spluttered, eyes widening.

"Ehh? !"

ooo

"Sorry, Mio, I won't do it again."

Ritsu received a disbelieving glare.

"You're not sorry," Mio said, "and you will do it again."

"Wrong. I am sorry, but yeah, I'll probably do it again."

The glare intensified.

Ritsu looked ahead. Her eyes scanned through all the shops until it landed on one that held a universally recognised, pink sign.

She grabbed Mio's hand.

"Let's go to AMX!" she suggested. She didn't wait for Mio's consent and was already pulling her towards the store. Fortunately for her, Mio was still frail from the horror movie and didn't say anything more than a, "What? Okay."

They entered and Ritsu did an onceover of the CDs displayed on the front rack before striding onwards. "My, my. Who released this week again?"

"Hm?"

"Who released this week?"

"They were right there, Ritsu."

"They're all pop garbage. I meant the ones we actually listen to."

Ritsu saw how Mio's lips seem to quirk at that. She blinked.

"What was that?"

Mio was a couple of steps ahead of her, browsing the old releases. She apparently hadn't heard her.

Ritsu awkwardly squeezed her way through a few people in between and fell back into step. She tapped Mio on the shoulder. "Oi, did you hear me?"

"Hm?" Mio didn't move her eyes away from the CDs.

"What're you looking for?"

"…Nothing in particular."

"Sure? I can help, you know."

"It's nothing."

Mio continued to stare at something that wasn't her. Ritsu bit the inside of her cheek and walked off to another aisle.

Several minutes later, she returned and tapped Mio on the shoulder again.

"Hmm?" Mio turned around. "What is it?"

Ritsu showed her a DVD she had procured from the Horror section, and was quickly punched.

"Ow…!"

Rubbing her arm, Ritsu opened her eyes to see Mio staring daggers at her.

But she was looking at her, so she smiled.

"What were you looking at?" Ritsu asked.

Mio frowned. "Besides the thing you just showed me?" She pointed a thumb over her shoulder. "That."

Shoving her hands into her pockets, Ritsu took a few steps forward, lowered her head and scrutinised at what Mio meant by 'that'.

"Huh … 'SCANDAL'?"

"I just discovered them," Mio said. "I'm trying to decide whether to get a single or their album. I really shouldn't spend too much, so…."

Ritsu pulled out a few CDs and skimmed over their track lists and covers.

She tried not to laugh.

"Never knew you got a school girl fetish. Why are they all wearing their uniforms," a giggle burst out of her, "on every single cover?"

Mio went red. "How would I know? ! And I do not! Their music's—"

"Oh hey, I'm a school girl, too…."

"You just realised? !"

"…I'm kinda hungry now."

"You just ate a large popcorn at the cinema…."

"That was the main meal. Need some dessert now. Anyway, why don't you get this?"

She handed Mio a CD. Mio raised an eyebrow and skimmed its title before looking back up at Ritsu.

"'_Yumemiru Tsubasa_'. So that's why you're hungry…."

"Mhmm, craving some of those right now."

"You've been eating junk food after junk food. Lessen up, will you? It's unhealthy."

"You're not my mother."

"No, but I—"

"Excuse me," came a stranger's voice.

Ritsu turned, saw she was in the way and sidestepped. "Sorry," she muttered. She turned back to Mio. "What were you saying?"

"Nothing. It's nothing." Mio flipped the CD over and read the track list. "Actually…I'll get this. Thanks."

"Ohh, it's no problem. Tainaka Ritsu is always at your service!"

She didn't receive an answer. Mio seemed to be lost in her own little world as she paid at the register. Ritsu frowned.

_What's up with her?_

Just as she was going to voice those thoughts out loud, they exited the store and were greeted with loud shrills.

Mio jumped a foot from the ground, whipping her head from side to side. "W-What's happening?" she gasped. "I-It's not us, is it?"

Ritsu looked helplessly at her. She could feel the burning stares from passers-by and Mio was getting more bewildered and embarrassed as the shrills continued. Shoving her hands into her jacket pockets, she swung around to meet an approaching store employee—and blinked.

She cringed.

She had forgotten to return the DVD.

ooo

Mio covered her mouth and nose, coughing as the dust danced in the air after years of neglect.

Regretting her decision to not wear a mask beforehand, she wiped her nose, smudging it with dark dust, and continued to sweep the bedside table with the feather duster. She hummed as she slid the duster between the wall and the back of the furniture, and subconsciously hoped a spider wouldn't leap out.

As if summoned, what looked to be a stick-like leg poked out and she immediately smacked it several times with the flyswatter she held in her other hand.

It turned out to be a piece of thread.

She growled and continued to clean quietly, not in the mood for further humming.

_Hmm … I hear drums._

She straightened up and perked her ears.

_Drums?_

When she recognised the beat, she dropped her things and dashed to her room. Her phone was ringing.

She cleared her throat and tried to even her breathing before she picked it up.

"Hello?"

_"Hey, Mio! What took you so long? I had to ring, like, three times."_

"Sorry, I was doing something."

_"…You sound strange. Were you napping or something?"_

"Huh? No I was—"

_"Oh! I __**know**__ now. You were touching yourse—"_

"I was _not_! Geez! I was in the guest room. I left my phone here—my room—so that's why I didn't hear you."

_"You wanted to hear me? Aww, you could have—"_

"Finish that line and I'm hanging up."

_"Fine, fine. Anyway, so are you coming?"_

"What? ! I _thought _I said that—"

_"Huh? I only asked—oh shit—no, I didn't mean that! I meant as in over—coming over. To the arcade! You know—I told you yesterday—don't hang up!"_

"The arcade…? Oh. Oh, I remember now. But, what? We just went there yesterday. I thought you're broke."

_"I wanna play DrumMamire! I'm so pissed that that nerd plays better than me! I bet he_ _hasn't played on a real drum set before."_

"He has better rhythm than you."

_"…Thanks for rubbing it in."_

"Anyway, I can't. I need to clean out the guest room."

_"Oh, was that what you were doing?"_

"Yeah, Grandma's coming over tomorrow."

_"Where're your parents?"_

"Out."

_"Okay."_

"Sorry, Ritsu. Maybe the day after tomorrow?"

The other end of the line went quiet. Mio looked at her phone and saw the call had ended. She growled.

_She did not just hang up on me._

Ten minutes later, after she had wrestled her fear in opening the guest room closet, the phone began to ring again. This time, though, she had kept it in her pocket.

"Ritsu."

_"Hey, open the front door!"_

"What…? Oh … geez."

ooo

Before Mio could see her, Ritsu made sure she looked positively dashing. Confident pose? Check. Cheeky smile? Check. Hair down? Check.

There was a click. The door slid open. Mio peeked out, took one sweeping look at her—and slid the door closed.

Ritsu stuck her foot out and ended up hitting the door. "Hey! Lemme in!"

"Don't kick!" The door slid open again. "Why are you even here? I told you I'm busy."

"Lemme help! It'll be quicker that way."

Mio's eyes narrowed.

Ritsu blinked. "What?"

The taller girl opened the door wider and gestured the other in. "Just go and read manga or something."

Ritsu shot her a dark look as she kicked off her shoes. "You think I'll hold you up, don't you? !"

Mio knelt down and arranged the shoes neatly. "I _know_ you're going to." As she stood up, Ritsu stepped forward and gave her a quick kiss on the mouth, almost knocking her off-balance. Ritsu was pushed back.

"Ritsu!"

"What?"

"Don't do that so suddenly."

Ritsu lifted an eyebrow. "Okay, then." She stepped onto the raised platform and leaned in slowly, enjoying how Mio became more flustered the closer she moved in. "Why don't you kiss me this time?"

"Me?"

"Well. Yeah. What's stopping you?"

Mio's hand appeared in her sight, brushing her unruly hair out of the way. Ritsu refrained from raising the other eyebrow and stared.

"I'm waiting," Ritsu said.

"Close your eyes."

"Huh?"

"I can't do it unless you close your eyes."

"Fine, fine."

As soon as she did, she felt warm lips on hers, and there was an overwhelming warmth in her chest that grew familiar. She smiled—a smile that soon faded as the kiss deepened. Holding back a moan as Mio's tongue boldly mapped her mouth, she kissed back just as fervently.

By the time they had pulled apart, Mio's face was evenly red and her lips were swollen.

Ritsu swallowed the growing laughter. The last time she had laughed, she didn't get a kiss for a week. She was a fast learner.

"Uh," Ritsu started to say, having felt the silence was too prolonged, "there's something on your nose, by the way."

"Huh?" Mio's voice was breathy. She rubbed her nose and glanced at her hand. "Oh, I must've wiped it there when I was cleaning…."

"Yeah, about that—"

"No, you're still not helping."

"Damnit! You're gonna take _eons_."

"It'll be supereons if you 'helped'."

"Doesn't that mean we also live that long?"

Mio smiled bashfully and clasped her hands with Ritsu's. "…I guess so."

Ritsu grinned at the sudden hand holding. "So, does that mean—"

"I bought the latest volume of this shoujo manga I've been reading."

Ritsu's stomach was suddenly heavy. She narrowed her eyes. "What…?"

"I have the latest volume. Of that manga you kept on teasing me about."

_Is she giving me a free shot?_

"And why are you telling me this?"

Mio shrugged and led her upstairs. "I don't know."

Ritsu shook her head, as if she was trying to clear her mind. "That was way too random … you know how I feel about that kind of stuff."

"I saw one in your room."

Ritsu stopped.

"…You're kidding."

Her hand was pulled forward. She pulled it back.

"Hey, we're on the stairs! Don't do that!"

"You looked at my stuff? !"

"Maybe, maybe not. Now c'mon."

"I wanna go home now."

"No, you don't."

"No, I don't. But I am."

Ritsu took a step back. Mio squeezed her hand and made her stay put.

"I'll finish in a couple of hours, maybe less. We can go to the arcade after."

"…Really?"

"Really."

"Cool."

Mio turned to the front and Ritsu could almost see her roll her eyes. "You're so bothersome."

"Yet you still love me."

"…Yeah."

Ritsu grinned.

Before she was dumped—left in Mio's room, Ritsu received a glass of barley tea and a warning that she should not creep up to her whilst she was cleaning. Ritsu gave a thumbs-up and nodded vigorously, she would not leave the room unless she was told so. Mio nodded back and returned to the guest room.

After she finished her drink, Ritsu flopped onto the bed and stared at the ceiling.

_I'm bored … maybe I should scare—no, I promised I wouldn't. Maybe I should read manga … but it's all shoujo—I can't believe she managed to find them…!_

Ritsu sat up and did a three-sixty inspection of the room with half-lidded eyes. She jumped off the bed.

_Let's start with this!_

Ritsu opened Mio's wardrobe and peered in. Clothes that were not hung up lay on the floor. She rummaged through them, hoping to find something she could blackmail the other girl with.

At the back corner of the wardrobe, her hand met something rough and solid. She stuck her head in and pushed some clothes to the side, revealing a box.

She squinted.

It was a box labelled, "Do not touch," in black marker.

Ritsu, being Ritsu, did the exact opposite.

The box contained notebooks and picture books. She didn't bother taking out the latter, knowing they were full of fairytales, but pulled out the others and pored over them.

"Today is children's day," Ritsu read aloud, "so I saw a carp flag flying over my neighbour's house—huh, diaries? She kept her old diaries in here?"

She dropped the diary and picked up the next notebook. Even as a child, Mio's handwriting was neat, linear, and small. Even on the pages that lacked lines, giving enough permission for her—Tainaka Ritsu—to write as big as she possibly could, Mio's writing continued to be tiny.

Impatient, she flipped to the end of the notebook and hoped there was something more interesting there. A page headlined "My Goals" caught her eye, making her flick back so she could read it.

Her mouth went dry.

"Ritsu…!"

The called girl hastily threw the book into the box and leapt for the door. "Yeah, Mio? What's up?"

"Come over! T-There's a bug!"

Ritsu ran back, piled the rest of the items into her arms and dropped them into the box. She quickly placed it inside, rearranged the clothes and closed the wardrobe. "Be right there!" she yelled over her shoulder.

_Better ask her later about it…_

ooo

"I can't believe Ui's a second year now!"

Ui smiled. "Time really goes fast. You're already on your third year, Onee-chan."

Yui nodded, causing her bed hair to become more dishevelled. Ui fell back a step, slipped out the always available brush in her pocket and used it on her sister's hair.

"Did you sleep well?" Ui asked.

Yui shook her head—"Onee-chan, stay still!—and replied, "I kept on thinking how it's school again, so I tried to stay awake and cherish the last minutes of freedom."

"That isn't good, you need your rest. Don't you have to perform at the first year reception tomorrow?"

Yui's eyes widened. "You're right! I'd forgotten about that!"

ooo

"You've forgotten about the auditorium usage form again, didn't you? !"

Several fellow train riders turned and stared. Mio's face burned as she bowed her head. "Sorry," she mumbled.

Ritsu snickered.

Mio's hardened eyes darted to her. Ritsu stiffened.

"And what are _you_ laughing about?" Mio demanded in a harsh whisper.

"Nothing, nothing. And I didn't forget. I'm doing it when we get there. I need to ask the others about something important before I can fill it out."

Mio arched an eyebrow. "…Really?"

Ritsu nodded. "Yup. Really."

_I hope I left it in my bag last semester…_

"Anyway," Ritsu began, literally waving off the last topic, "looking forward to seeing which classes we'll be in?"

Mio blanched. "No," she replied shortly.

ooo

"So you're gonna stay out here?"

"Yup," Mio said resolutely. "The sakura are looking nice today, so I'd like to stay outside for a while."

Ritsu shifted her weight onto one leg and placed a hand on her hip. "It really won't be—"

"No."

"Fine then. I'll be back."

Mio nodded, turned on her heel and made a pointed stare at the sakura trees. The day was clear, leaving the sun unobscured and the sky blinding. She lifted her head and closed her eyes, letting a few falling petals tickle her cheeks.

_Third year, huh._

Mio looked over her shoulder for the tree next to the building entrance.

Ritsu had already disappeared.

She frowned and fixed her gaze back towards the sakura trees before her. It was a gaze that went through. She wouldn't have remembered it at that moment, but she was behaving the same way as the Mio from three years ago. Holding her chin high and keeping her hands close to her chest, as if hiding how the organ in her ribcage was pulling an all out frenzy. By all appearances, Mio was calm and collected and was admiring nature to her heart's content.

"Mio!"

Mio jumped. She jumped even higher when a hand fell onto her shoulder.

Ritsu's laughing face came into view. "It's only me. Anyway…!"

After choking out a few inaudible curses, Mio asked quietly, "So…which class?"

"Guess."

Mio's brow creased. "I'm not in the mood to guess."

"Okay, I'll give you a hint: we've had the same class before."

Mio's brow furrowed even further. "…Ritsu. Unless we'd entered a time machine and I somehow didn't know—"

"I meant the class name."

"Huh?"

"Think back to junior high, why don't cha?"

"What are you talking—junior high?" Mio frowned and rubbed her temple. "What class were we in that's the same as..." She blinked.

"C'mon, you're getting there."

"3-2?"

Ritsu continued to grin cheekily.

"Look," Mio pointed, quite literally, as she poked Ritsu on the chest, "I told you that I'm not in the—wait, we're in the same class?"

Ritsu's grin fell. "Crap," she muttered, "I gave that part away."

"You could have just told me from the beginning, you idiot!"

Ritsu ducked from Mio's swinging fist. "H-hey, hold up! There's more!"

ooo

"You're _all_ in the same class?" Azusa asked in awe. "That's … really…."

Yui giggled and rocked back and forth on her seat. "Sawa-chan-sensei's our homeroom teacher," she gushed.

"Ah." Azusa's grip on her teacup was dangerously loose. "…So that's why."

"So what class are you in, Azu-nyan?"

"…2-3."

Yui's happy smile froze. "Oh," she choked out.

Ritsu, who wasn't there to check the second year class arrangements, went ahead and asked, "And what class is Ui in?"

Azusa lowered her head and sipped on her tea morosely.

"2-2…."

Silence befell the club room as déjà-vu overcame four of its regular members.

Azusa attempted a smile. "It's okay, really, I met an old family friend."

The silence continued to reign.

"She's deciding to join the Jazz Club," Azusa added. "Though she told me if no one joins the Light Music Club next year, she might change."

Ritsu crossed her arms. "Oh, right. I forgot that you'll be alone after we graduate."

Azusa nodded. "So we'd better practise today for the performance tomorrow," she said, with a tiny bit of hope and distress injected in her voice.

Mio patted her arm sympathetically.

Tsumugi came around their tables, settled a plate of sweets for each and a basket of cookies at the centre. "Time travels so fast," she commented. "We're already filling out a university choice form."

Yui reached over to grab a few cookies. Ritsu's hand was already there, so she slapped it away unconsciously before she took more than her share.

Ritsu bristled. "Hey, Yui! That's mine! And you took too much!"

"It's okay, Ricchan, I've got plenty more."

Yui ignored Ritsu's objection and enjoyed her snack. "That's great, Mugi-chan!" she exclaimed in between chews. "These cookies are so addictive and fluffy!"

Azusa threw an exasperated look at Yui before she turned to Tsumugi. "If you don't mind telling us, what did you choose, Mugi-sempai?" she asked.

Tsumugi smiled. "Well, I had two universities in mind. At the end I chose Kyoto Women's University because it's closer."

"Oh, and what was the other one?"

"Japan Women's University."

"Ah…." _Why are they all women only institutions…?_

"Have you decided on which university you want to go, Azusa-chan?"

"Ah…yes, I have, actually—"

"Already? !" Ritsu and Yui shouted in unison.

"I'm thinking of going to Shiga Uni. of Medical Science."

"Y-you're planning to be a doctor, Azu-nyan?"

"How the heck does Azusa know what to do before me? !"

Azusa pouted. "No, I'm thinking of becoming a nurse." The pout curled into an amused smile. "And should I really answer that, Ritsu-sempai?"

She received an immediate knuckle rub on the head.

"I'm sorry," the second year yelped. "I'm sorry!"

After she was released and she had fixed her hair, Azusa settled her gaze on Mio. "What did you pick, Mio-sempai?"

Ritsu snorted. She rested her hand on Mio's head easily, having stood up to punish her junior. Mio looked up and arched an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?" Mio asked.

"This girl," Ritsu explained, completely ignoring Mio's question, "is doing recommendation."

Azusa gasped in awe.

Ritsu nodded. "That's right, she's gonna be a full-out nerd for these three semest—oww."

"What's recommendation?" Yui asked.

The others blinked at her.

"…You honestly don't know?" Ritsu, rubbing her side, asked back.

Yui nodded.

"Well it's quite embarrassing to say…but the thing is, I'm not good with exams," Mio explained weakly. "I mean, I'm okay with end of term exams. But the really big ones…it's nerve-wracking for me. If I take recommendation, there's a chance I'll be able to take an entrance exam that's easier than usual."

Yui gasped and stood up in shock. "I should pick it too!"

"But it's held earlier and you need to have consistent good marks."

Yui turned pale and sank back into her seat.

"How come everyone's going to university?" she whispered. "Even Nodoka-chan's aiming for Kyoto Uni., but…I thought we're gonna go for Budokan."

"Um." Mio's eyes darted to Ritsu's.

"We are," Azusa reassured her. She turned to the other three. "We'll do a lot of gigs after high school, right?"

They nodded.

"Gig?"

Azusa turned back to Yui and nodded confidently. "Yes, Yui-sempai. We can perform in bars and clubs."

Yui tilted her head. "Don't we have to be over 20 to do that?"

"There are some places where minors are allowed in."

"Why don't we start now then?"

"Um! Uh, that's…well, we already have the school festivals. And we still have high school…."

Yui nibbled on a cookie, she didn't look convinced.

Azusa's appearance faltered as four pairs of eyes fell on her. "Um, realistically, it might be hard to book a performance at this place I frequent but…."

"I can help there, with the booking," Tsumugi chipped in. "We'll start out small first, of course."

Azusa, Mio and Ritsu shuddered, having remembered summer break and villas.

Nevertheless…

"I guess we can still do it!" Yui chirped.

Azusa looked mildly insulted. So her reassurances were nowhere near the level of a single line from Tsumugi, she thought bitterly.

There was another lull of conversation, and Yui retreated to engulfing cookie after cookie.

Ritsu cleared her throat. "So, I called you all here today—"

"We're supposed to be here, anyway," Mio cut in.

"—'cause I decided, why don't we make the band name fancier? Like capitalise it or something?"

"Capitalise it?" Azusa and Tsumugi echoed. Mio merely gave Ritsu a curious look.

"Yeah, I mean, look at all the bands out there. There's X JAPAN, GLAY," Ritsu paused to smirk and look pointedly at Mio, "…SCANDAL."

Mio frowned. She ignored the quip and thought over it. "There's chatmonchy, stereopony and the pillows," she argued. "None of them are capitalised."

"Who the hell's stereopony? Anyway—"

"They've done a collab with YUI."

"—why don't we—see! Even your _idol_ does it. Let's just capitalise the 'teatime' part!"

Yui's attention was caught at the 'teatime' word, having temporarily forgotten what her name was. She finally tuned into the conversation and only munched on her cookies once every third second.

"Ritsu," Mio said calmly, "it's in katakana, tell me how—"

"Change it to roman letters then," Ritsu shrugged.

"What about 'teatime'?" Yui asked.

The others but Tsumugi ignored her. The blonde gave another generous serving of chocolate chipped cookies onto Yui's plate.

Azusa hummed in thought. "Actually," she said tentatively, "that's a surprisingly good idea, Ritsu-sempai."

Ritsu puffed out her chest and smacked it with a fist. "See, I'm—what do you mean by 'surprisingly'?"

Sensing another punishment, Azusa searched around for her guitar case. Her pigtails whipped around as she did so. "Um, should we practise now?" she suggested uneasily, slipping out of her seat.

Ritsu was faster.

"Hey, you midget, you haven't answered…!"

"I'm sorry…!"

Mio watched as Ritsu jumped and tackled the second year.

_This is what she meant by 'something important'…?_

Predictably, the club room doors burst open. Nodoka flew into the room with a tick in her eye.

"Ritsu! This is getting ridiculous!"

Ritsu's attack slackened and Azusa chose that moment to run away.

"Oh, Nodoka."

Nodoka strode up to Ritsu and pointed her forefinger at her. "When are you ever going to remember?"

ooo

"Ah, third year," Ritsu breathed out, adjusting the school bag on her shoulder. "I'm gonna miss picking on Azusa when we graduate."

She saw how Mio slightly looked the other way. She grinned and reached for her hand.

"You're not jealous, are you?"

"No…not really."

"Really?"

"Just felt…."

"Hnn…?"

"Lonely, a bit."

Ritsu pretended she didn't see how a passer-by seemed to glare towards their way. She laughed nervously—just mildly—and squeezed Mio's hand. "It's good we're in the same class again, right, Mio?"

Mio looked up and stared at her. Her face broke into a genuine smile. "Yeah!"

Ritsu smiled back.

It was truly a blessing they were in the same class again. It was even better that they were surrounded by most of their friends, never mind that it was due to Sawako pulling a few strings.

Like three years ago, Ritsu was going to make sure they weren't going to be separated again. She was going to hold on to Mio. Literally.

_Yeah._

Ritsu looked down at their hands.

_We were just like this._

ooooo

**A/N**: I didn't even use a single semicolon! YAY! May this sequel last for a while…I'm not ready to let all these notes die away.

…The ending felt rushed, didn't it? Urk. Well, I decided to release the damn chapter before exams take over me or it'll take another month or so for this chapter to see the light of day…

**Notes** (?):  
— _Shoujo_ – literally means girl; (oh fark, here it is) a genre targeted at girls—think chick flicks.  
— Yumemiru Tsubasa is the name of some pastry snack. The characters they use are different, but they still sound the same.  
— BTW, ironically (well, for this fic), SCANDAL is a fan of K-ON! and has even covered 'Don't say "lazy"'. :O Check their performance on youtube!  
— Hohoho, poor Azusa. She's destined to follow Mio's footsteps.  
— Bloody university forms. I had to research wtf 'recommendation' was because I'm like Yui there (yeah, I'm following their vague choices in the manga).


	2. Hold on your love, Part One

**A/N:** Part one of 'Chapter 2'. Does that concept exist? Well, it exists now.

ooooo

There was something up with Ritsu, Mio decided.

She had thought it was her imagination. Ritsu often visited the Akiyama residence, and she would sometimes visit the Tainaka residence. These impromptu visits were mutual until Ritsu, out of nowhere, told her—no, demanded her—to inform her beforehand if she were to visit. Mio had shrugged it off that Ritsu was being hypocritical as usual and, instead of following her, ended up avoiding the Tainaka residence altogether.

But by the second time Ritsu had taken her book card and given it a new home, she had to stomp over to her place and give her an earful.

ooo

"Mio!"

Mio ignored how Ritsu's face was oddly contorted into an expression she was not expecting. "Ritsu, how many times—"

Ritsu's forefinger was on her lips. "Shhh!"

Mio's eyebrows ascended. She looked over Ritsu. There was no one behind her, but the brunette kept on casting furtive glances over her shoulder.

She was ushered in and the door was closed quietly.

Quietly.

Mio was starting to get worried. She lowered her voice into a concerned whisper as she slipped off her sandals. "Ritsu, what's wrong?"

"Just be normal, okay?"

Mio blinked. "Normal?"

"Ritsu," came a woman's voice from the next room. "Who was it?"

Ritsu darted a look at Mio before she answered, "Just Mio, Mum! Study session, remember?"

"You never told me."

Ritsu gave a small laugh. "You sure? I told you yesterday."

They heard a blunt smack and some footsteps. Ms Tainaka stepped out from the kitchen and into the semi-lightened hallway. Her eyes seemed to search for Mio, and when they found her, she smiled.

Mio bowed. "Hello, Ryouko-san."

"Hello, Mio. How are you and your folks?"

"They're fine. I'm fine. How are you?"

"Had better days." The eyes shifted and landed on Ritsu. "No, you didn't. I would've remembered."

Mio was about to apologise for the intrusion but Ritsu cut her off. "Well, time does fly by, maybe your memory's not as good as it used to be."

Ms Tainaka ignored the quip and went back to staring at Mio. "Where are your study materials, Mio?"

Mio's apology died in her throat. Her sluggish mind tried to kick start and arrive at another reply.

"Her stuff's already in my room," Ritsu explained. "Heh, saves her the trip for today, you know? It'd be tiring."

"You carried her stuff here? That's quite bothersome for you, isn't it?"

"Huh? Who said I carried them here?"

"Well I haven't seen Mio for a while. About two months, hasn't it?"

Mio kept quiet. The woman had an impeccable memory. She saw Ritsu blink and look for another excuse. "You weren't home at the time, I guess."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I mean, didn't you come home late yesterday? You missed her."

"I see," Ms Tainaka said. She retreated to the kitchen. "Well, don't let me bother you two. Study well."

Mio waited until they were in Ritsu's room to speak. "What was that about?" she asked after Ritsu closed the door behind them.

Ritsu didn't reply. She went to her desk, rummaged through the disorganised papers and picked up something. She returned to Mio and held out her hand. "Here," she said finally.

Mio looked at the hand. When she saw it was her book card, her worry increased tenfold. "Thanks," she said, a bit dazedly, as she took it. She looked up and saw Ritsu's eyes flicker past her—to the door.

Mio took a step forward. "What happened?"

Ritsu stepped back and held her palms out, waving her away. "Nothing. Nothing happened. Nothing at all."

"Right," Mio deadpanned. She took another couple of steps forward. "And were you actually serious about the—"

"How's the studying going?"

Mio jumped. She flipped around and stared wide-eyed at Ms Tainaka. "Yes?" she yelped.

"Gee, Mum," Ritsu retorted, "We barely started, and can't you knock next time?"

Ms Tainaka frowned. "If I knock, wouldn't that also startle you?" She gave a pointed look at the window. "I'll go and prepare some barley tea. Why don't you open the window? It's hot today."

Before Ritsu could manage to rebut, she closed the door and left.

Mio waited for the woman's footsteps to fade away. When they did, she turned to Ritsu. "That—"

"Let's study, Mio."

"—was … what? What did you say?"

Ritsu shrugged. "Study. She's gonna come back."

Mio blinked quite a lot. "Since when does she check on you so much?"

"Since we entered third year … she's always bugging me to study and study."

Mio pursed her lips. "Tell your mum we're going to my place."

"Huh, why?"

"We'll study there."

"Why?"

"Because. You'd better tell her now before she finishes the drinks."

When Ritsu stood still and continued to blink uncomprehendingly at her, Mio sighed. "Just pack your books," she said. "I'll go."

Downstairs, Mio tentatively knocked the open kitchen door before she entered.

Ryouko turned around. "Oh, Mio! Sorry, but it seems we're out of teabags, would just water do?"

"Um, it's okay. Actually, we're going to my place. Because," she averted her eyes and felt her ears warm, "um, I forgot to bring the more important notes."

"I wouldn't have tagged you as a forgetful person, Mio."

Mio scratched her cheek. "Um, so yes, I'll see you later," she stammered, bowing.

"Do take care. It's quite hot outside."

Mio nodded.

When Mio returned to Ritsu's room, Ritsu was sitting on her bed. The drummer looked up, grabbed the shoulder bag next to her and slipped off the bed. "Well, let's go," she said.

The walk to Mio's house was sweltering and silent. Mio glanced at Ritsu. Ritsu stared ahead. She had adjusted the strap of her bag a few times already and her hair clung to the back of her neck. The next time she fiddled with the strap, Mio asked, "Do you want me to carry it?"

"Huh?"

"The bag."

"It's fine."

"Looks heavy."

"'t's not."

Ritsu's hand was grabbed and she suddenly felt lighter. Ritsu stopped and swung her head towards Mio. "Oi!" she yelled, lunging for the bag, "Gimme it."

Mio sidestepped and walked on. "I'll carry it."

"I said you didn't need to."

"Yes, didn't. I do now."

There was a rush of air, and Ritsu was running ahead.

Mio's mouth fell open. "Ritsu!" she shrilled, "Don't run! You'll tire out even more!"

The drummer, not slowing down, pushed on. She seemed to be running faster.

Mio sighed.

When she reached her house, Ritsu was bent over at the doorstep, trying to catch her breath. Mio shook her head and unlocked the door. It was until she had taken off her shoes did Ritsu clamber into the house.

Mio slid the door closed. Ritsu squatted and pulled off her shoes. When she stood up, she felt arms wrap around her.

"Oi, it's too hot for hugs," Ritsu wheezed.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you about what?"

"Ritsu. I saw what happens when your mum's nearby. It's very obvious."

"It is?"

Mio made an affirmative sound.

It was growing unbearably warm. But Ritsu didn't move away and neither did Mio.

Ritsu sighed. "She wants me to get a boyfriend."

"I know."

Ritsu stiffened. "Huh? How? I never told you."

"Yeah, why didn't you tell me?" Mio repeated.

"Uh, I didn't want to make a big deal about it … and you'd probably yell at me or something."

"Why would I yell—" Mio stopped, having heard how hard and painfully loud her voice was. She groaned and buried her face onto Ritsu's shoulder.

"See?"

Mio's words were muffled.

ooo

"Nee-chan, where's the English dictionary?"

Ritsu looked up. Seeing Satoshi, she took said item on her desk and threw it.

After a few juggles, Satoshi managed a firm grip on the tome.

"Oooh, good catch, little bro."

Satoshi grinned. He was about to leave until he seemed to remember something. "By the way," he began, "where's Mio-neechan these days? I hardly see her."

"We're in third year, remember? She's busy studying."

"I thought she studies here too."

"Well, yeah, she does. But, yeah."

"What?"

"Why are you so worried about Mio, anyway? D'ya have a crush on her or something?"

Her little brother blushed. "What? No!"

Ritsu's pen fell and pattered on the low table. Her jaw joined with the stationery.

"You _do_? !"

"I don't!"

"Yes you do!"

"No I don't!"

"You do!"

"Don't."

"Don't!"

"Do!" Satoshi yelled.

Ritsu grinned.

Satoshi blinked. He then scowled. "I did when I was little—not anymore!"

Ritsu fell back and covered her face with a hand. "Ahh, thank goodness."

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

Satoshi stared at her. After a while, he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. "Hey, Nee-chan."

Ritsu moved her fingers so she could peek through. "Is this the boyfriend thing again?"

"If you do, just tell Mum. She—"

"Won't get mad. Yeah, you already told me."

"So why don't you—"

"Why are you so freaking insistent?"

"Because!" He lowered his voice when he remembered their mother was home. Ritsu sat back up. "Dinner feels so weird now. Well weirder than usual. It's all awkward."

"It's 'cause she doesn't believe me."

"So you really, really don't?"

"Yeah, I don't."

"Pinkie swear?"

"What are you? In elementary?"

Satoshi flushed. "You said the same thing just a week ago!"

Ritsu waved it away. "That's because I was talking to you," she remarked airily.

Satoshi's mouth twitched. He glared at the ground. "You two always treat me like a kid. Even Mio-neechan treats me like one sometimes."

Ritsu straightened up and stared. "Huh?"

"Thinking I won't get this stuff … I kinda do, okay?" He looked up. "Like you said, I'm not in elementary anymore."

"Huh? I didn't say that. I asked if you were."

"I'm only three years younger than you."

"Which means you're not in senior high, and still a kid."

Satoshi clenched his teeth together. Ritsu stared at him, and blinked when her vision became double.

The second, overlapping Satoshi was like a mirror.

Ritsu looked away. "Hey."

"What?"

She looked back at him. "I tell you what. When I do have someone—" _Or when I'm ready to tell you. _"—you'll be one of the first I'll tell, okay?"

"Huh? What just," he stopped. Satoshi blinked a few times, his head mildly shaking, until he continued, "Uh, okay. Cool."

"But you don't tell Mum."

Satoshi gave her an incredulous look. "Why would I? That's your job."

Ritsu laughed.

ooo

"Studying hard, Mio?"

Mio hastily flipped her phone shut and shoved it to the side. Her eyes fell back to her notes. "Oh, Dad, yeah—I was just taking a small break," she replied feebly. She picked up her pen and pressed it against the first sheet of paper she saw, as if to emphasise her point.

Her father smiled. "No need to hide it. You've been studying consistently. Some breaks in between is good for you," he said, ruffling her hair.

Mio's hands flew to her head. "Dad!" she squeaked. She looked up and blinked.

Her father was looking at her for a very long moment. He seemed to be in deep thought. Mio averted her eyes and mumbled, "What's wrong?"

"Mum's right."

"Eh?"

"You do take after me," Mr Akiyama said, confusing Mio all the more. "Show me your hand."

Mio slowly reached her hand out for him to inspect. He pressed his own hand against hers and hummed in thought. "Yes, you do take after me," he repeated once again.

"What are you talking about, Dad?"

"Your grandma called just then. She kept on telling me how alike we are. Says the days she'd spent here reminded her of my childhood."

Mio tried not to frown. "Am I that unwomanly?" she muttered.

Mr Akiyama's eyes went wide. "Oh, no, no," he quickly refuted. "It's more like the other way around," he added in embarrassment.

Mio looked at her father from head to toe. She was having trouble believing that.

ooo

The crash cymbal on the yellow drum set rang, drowning the last seconds of the song. Ritsu moved her legs, releasing the pedal on the hi-hat, and sighed along with the last sound her instrument would make for the day. She stood up and stretched out her arms. "Well, that was awesome," Ritsu said in between yawns.

Azusa switched off the amplifier and pulled out the plug before she turned to the drummer. "Your rhythm was good today, Ritsu-sempai," she commented.

Ritsu grinned. "Played a lot of DrumMamire, that's why!"

Azusa's face was blank. "DrumMamire?" she echoed.

"It's this awesome rhythm game at the arcade! You should try it. It's fun."

Azusa's eyelids drooped. "Please practise on a real drum set next time."

"Eeeeehh. But isn't it helping?"

Azusa's mouth drifted open. She blinked. "I guess it is." After thinking over it, she added, "I guess people learn in different ways."

"Mugi-chan," Yui called from the couch, stretching out every syllable. Her guitar was lying on top of her. "Do you have any ice-cream cakes?"

Tsumugi pulled out a tray of frosted glasses from a small refrigerator she had managed to install in the club room. She carefully settled the tray onto the table before she replied, "Yes, I do. Shall I bring them tomorrow?"

"Yes, please!"

Mio packed up her bass guitar, and strolled over to the tables. She laid a hand on Tsumugi's shoulder and picked up a glass of iced tea. "Thanks Mugi."

Tsumugi smiled. "It's no problem, Mio-chan."

Across from them, Ritsu stood still, her eyebrows ascended.

There was a flump from the couch as Yui tried to get up. "Where's Nodoka-chan?" she asked.

"Yui," Ritsu said, "We're in the music room."

Yui stretched her arms towards the ceiling, trying continuously to get up. "Doesn't she usually come here and tell you off?" she wheezed.

"Tell me off about what?"

"You know. Something about a form."

"I've given it in already."

Yui sat up and swivelled her head towards Ritsu. "What?" she gasped.

Ritsu threw her a look. "What?"

Yui wiped her eyes with a handkerchief that appeared out of nowhere. "This isn't the Ricchan I know," she sniffed. "I feel sad now."

"It wouldn't kill you to praise me, Yui. Really, it wouldn't."

The handkerchief and tears disappeared. Yui's jaw hung low. "Aah … what happened to you, Ricchan?"

"Nothing!" Ritsu screeched.

"Actually," Mio cut in, "I was the one that reminded her."

"You didn't need to tell her that!"

Ritsu felt her head being patted.

"That's the Ricchan I know!"

Ritsu jerked her head to Yui, who had finally stood up and was next to her. "Why are," she stopped when a thought occurred to her. She changed her confrontational attitude to a playful one. "Yeah, keep on patting! Yup, I'm the Ricchan you know."

She heard Mio mutter, "So have you decided on where we're going?"

"Yes, I have," Tsumugi replied. "It's not the one I wanted though. We've been at this place before. Hopefully it's as enjoyable as the last."

"Ah, that's good."

Ritsu rested a hand on each girl's shoulder before she leaned in between them. "Oh, what's this?"

"Mio-chan was asking where we're going for summer break," Tsumugi explained.

"Who's 'we'?"

This time Mio answered her. "The club, of course."

Azusa stood at the sidelines. She was watching the other band members since she had packed up. The mention of plans for summer break made her speak up. "Are you talking about a training camp, Mio-sempai?" she asked in excitement.

Mio looked over her shoulder and addressed the rest of the club. "Yeah. For most of us, this coming festival is going to be our last. We need to make it our best." She paused, looked at Azusa specifically and added, "Hopefully the people'd reconsider in joining the club."

Azusa smiled widely. "Yes, Mio-sempai!"

Yui sneaked along Azusa's blind spot. Grinning and trying not to giggle, she tackled the second year in a tight hug. Azusa squealed.

"Azu-nyan," Yui cooed, "We need to buy new swimsuits."

"Eeh?"

"What's with the 'eeh'?"

"Wouldn't the ones from last year do?"

Yui pulled away from the hug and turned Azusa around. Azusa blinked as Yui's eyes flew from her head to her toes.

"You haven't grown at all, Azusa," Ritsu commented, smirking. "Maybe you should wear last year's."

Yui gave a reprimanding look at the other brunette. "How mean, Ricchan. She did grow."

"Huh?"

Yui turned Azusa around for everyone else to see. "Look at her chest," she explained, innocently pointing at said body part.

Azusa went scarlet, hastily crossing her arms. "Yui-sempai!"

Tsumugi's hand flew to her cheek. "My, my. You're right, Yui-chan."

The skin colour of Azusa's neck soon matched her face. "Mugi-sempai!"

"Heeh," Ritsu muttered, "Looks the same to me."

Azusa's and Yui's cheeks puffed out.

"That's because you keep on looking at Mio-chan's," Yui said matter-of-factly.

"What?" Ritsu stammered, turning scarlet herself. She turned to Mio, who immediately crossed her arms and blushed. "What was that for? ! I'm not looking at them!"

"Now, now," Tsumugi coaxed. "You and Mio-chan can go home now if you want to."

"We're perfectly fine!" Ritsu screeched.

ooo

"I wasn't looking at them, just to let you know," Ritsu said later on the day.

"Eh?" Mio looked up from her notes. She grasped what Ritsu was going on about this time and looked back down, poring over trigonometry. "I know," she said. She then mumbled, "As if that'd stopped you before."

"Huh?"

Mio kept her head down. "Nothing."

"Were you badmouthing me?"

"No."

"What were you saying then?"

"It's nothing, I said."

"If it's nothing then tell me."

"Greater than," Mio muttered under her breath. "So you add this variable here."

"Fine, don't tell me."

"And since it's—ah. I get it now."

"When's the camp? The middle of break like last time?"

"Lesser than … and it's sine up to—"

"Mio."

"Let me finish this problem first."

"Fine, fine," Ritsu complied. She waited patiently by snatching any pens on the table that weren't currently in use and air drummed.

When she finally finished, Mio laid the pen down and asked, "What were you saying?"

"Training camp. When is it?"

"It's either on the second or third week of break. Azusa's planning to take a summer course this year, so I'm not exactly sure."

Ritsu slumped over, almost knocking off her glass of cola, and rested her cheek on the table. "Damn," she muttered, "I forgot about that."

"About what?"

"That you're probably doing a summer course too."

"Eh? Why?"

"You free on the 15th?"

Mio rifled through her mental schedule before she picked up her school diary and double-checked. "I don't think so. Wait."

"You didn't forget did you?"

Mio went pink. "No. I. Sorry…." She rested her forehead on her palms and tried not to pull at her hair.

Ritsu lifted her head and smiled. "It's okay, it's okay! Always next time, right? It's not like it's our one year anniversary."

Mio glanced up and immediately felt guilty.

ooo

"So Ritsu, where were you this afternoon?"

Ritsu looked up from her dinner. At her side, Satoshi also looked up. He watched silently as Ritsu replied, "Study session at Yui's."

"Yui?" their mother repeated. "Ah, one of your school friends?"

"Yeah."

"Does she have any siblings?"

"Yeah. A sister who's a year younger."

Ms Tainaka's eyes fell. "Ah, what a shame."

Ritsu opened her mouth, but at the last second she thought better of it and closed it.

"Ritsu," Ms Tainaka continued, "do you remember Tamekazu?"

Ritsu rolled her eyes to the side. "Yeah, I remember," she replied.

"He's looking for a wife, last I heard."

Ritsu took a huge bite of fish and didn't meet the woman's searching gaze. "'M not interested," she said in between chews.

"Why?"

"He's too old."

"Your father's parents have an age gap of several years. They're still happily married."

"Because they're one of a kind. Even you know that," Ritsu muttered.

Ms Tainaka seemed to have not heard the comment. "Just for one date," she insisted.

"I'm busy with school."

"How about during break?"

"Training camp for club."

"After break? There're no exams then."

"School festival."

"Oh. Actually, that's a good place to—"

"My band has a performance."

The woman frowned. "Band again? Why—"

"Mum," Satoshi broke in, "leave Nee-chan alone. It's obvious she's not interested."

"Don't worry over such matters, Satoshi," Ms Tainaka quickly replied, "You don't—"

"Understand? I do!"

"Satoshi, you're too young for this."

"Isn't Nee-chan too young for this too? Tamekazu's, like, 24!"

Ms Tainaka's eyes flew to her son and stared. "No shouting," she said tersely.

Satoshi slouched and took a harsh bite at a piece of fish, marking the ends of his chopsticks.

"By the way," his mother continued, "you still haven't told me your mid-exam results."

"Urk."

"Did you really think I'd forget?" Her eyes landed on her daughter once again. "Your sister did surprisingly well."

"'Surprisingly', again," Ritsu muttered behind her bowl of miso soup.

Satoshi's chopsticks fell—"What are you doing?" his mother chided—and stared at Ritsu in awe. "You actually studied?" he gasped.

Ritsu tried to not appear as insulted as she felt. The reaction was happening too much for her tastes. She slammed the bowl down, sloshing soup all over the table. "I did!"

"Seriously?"

"Ritsu! You clean up the table this instant!"

"Don't give me that 'You-must-be-joking' face," Ritsu demanded, ignoring her mother.

Satoshi didn't realise a few drops of soup had stained his shorts. "But you were playing the Wii with me before the exams!"

Their mother coughed harshly.

"I crammed right after!"

Ms Tainaka slapped her palm against the table. The sudden table movement jolted the two siblings, making them jump up and fly into a short panic.

"E-earthquake?" Satoshi yelped.

The table shook again.

"It's an 8.0!" Ritsu gasped.

"Nee-chan, I think I'm gonna spew—"

"Will you two calm down? !" their mother roared.

Ritsu and Satoshi shrunk and cautiously returned to their seats.

"So, the Wii," Ms Tainaka said, "that was what you two were doing?"

They gulped.

"It's now confiscated until Spring break," she finalised.

ooo

"It's all your fault," Ritsu muttered. "Now I have to cough up more money at the arcade."

"You don't need to rub it in," her brother mumbled.

Ritsu looked up and watched him sulkily re-arrange his CD collection at the corner of the room. "Thanks, though," she said. "For what you did at dinner," she added when Satoshi raised his eyebrows at her.

"Oh, it's okay," Satoshi replied, grinning. "I didn't want Tamekazu to be my brother-in-law. He's kinda freaky."

"Lemme take my 'thanks' back."

Satoshi's grin grew. It faded away when he noticed what his sister was holding in her hands. "Hey!" he pointed. "You'd better remember to return it after."

"Hn?" Ritsu looked down at the music magazine she was reading. "Oh, this? Sure." She glanced up and saw she was getting the suspicious eye. "I'll return it!"

"Aren't you supposed to be studying?"

"It's two more days 'til the semester's over. Gimme a break."

"No guy is gonna marry you if you're that lazy."

"No girl is gonna marry you if you're that uptight."

Satoshi laughed.

Ritsu narrowed her brow. "Why are you laughing?"

"You're," he stopped and pulled a pair of headphones over his ears, "actually, it's nothing."

Ritsu frowned as she watched her brother nod his head to a beat only he could hear.

ooo

"Mio?"

"Yeah?"

Ritsu stopped pretending she was reading the magazine in her hands, something she had been doing for the past half hour. She glanced over at Mio. She was hunched over her laptop, typing and clicking and researching.

"We just started break, why're you doing your homework?"

"I've got summer course today, remember? I need to get this over and done with."

"Oh. Okay."

"…Is that it?"

"Uh…."

"What is it?"

Ritsu swallowed past the lump in her throat. "How far have you thought about us?"

Mio stopped all three activities and gave Ritsu her full attention. "What do you mean?" she asked carefully.

"Well you know. Us. In the future and that. How far?" Throughout this, Ritsu made several gestures that involved shoulder shrugs, finger pointing, and darting of the eyes.

"You mean, besides—you know?"

"Forever?"

Mio blushed. "Y-yeah."

Ritsu looked back at the magazine as if it would give her some form of a hint. She looked up again and asked, "Would there be a wedding?"

"W-we-we—why the sudden question? !"

Ritsu also blushed. "It's just a question!" After she thought over what she had said, she added hastily, "I'm just wondering! I was just reading—thinking about it—last night and, yeah … yeah. Arghh, don't worry!" When she saw how Mio was mildly smirking at her, Ritsu threw her head down and poked the bed in frustration.

The bed slumped. Ritsu looked up and saw Mio was smiling and sitting right in front of her. Ritsu became more flustered and averted her eyes. She looked back after she felt a hand on her shoulder and a kiss on her cheek.

"You were thinking about that?" Mio whispered.

"Uh, yeah, I was."

Mio's smile grew.

Ritsu grinned. "You'd look good in a suit."

The smile and brightness in Mio's eyes disappeared. "What?" Mio said. Her tone was suddenly harsh. "Are you saying I'm a guy?"

Ritsu blinked. "Huh? No, uh, you know what I mean!"

Mio's eyes hardened. "No. I don't."

Ritsu gulped. "Mio?"

"Since when did you…." Mio looked away. "Never mind."

"What?"

"Never mind."

"No," Ritsu insisted. "You tell me!"

Mio turned back, her eyes flashing. "It's just…! What? A guy? Me?"

"I didn't mean it that way!"

"What else could you have meant?"

"I mean, like, out of us two, it'd—"

"Out of us two?" Mio repeated incredulously. "Ritsu. We're both girls."

"I know that! I meant—"

"What?"

"Okay just stop and calm—"

"Stop for whatever reason? Being a girl?"

"There you go again!" Ritsu puffed out. She cocked her head to the side and added, "Is it that time of the month for you or something?"

Mio flushed. "Don't act as if I got the idea out of nowhere!"

"It sure feels like it!"

"Look! If you really want to," Mio paused and shrugged sharply towards the door, "then leave."

Ritsu filled in the blanks. Her shoulders slumped. "I'm not going to leave."

"You want to get married, don't you?"

The question roughly reminded Ritsu about something long forgotten. Her blood boiled. "What about you, huh? !"

Mio faltered. "What about me?"

Ritsu was not discouraged. She carried on. "I've read your goals! Don't know why you even tried to hide them!"

"Eh? My goals?"

"You're the one that wrote 'I want to get married'! You even said it'd be with some prince or something!"

Mio blinked rapidly. "What? What are you talking about?"

"Don't try to act dumb! I saw it in your diaries!"

Mio's face was blank until comprehension was grasped. "You read my _diaries_?"

"They were old!"

"Still! You actually went ahead and—how old?"

Ritsu's tirade reached to an abrupt stop as she considered over the question. "Looked like it was written in elementary."

"What? Elementary? Geez, I was a kid!"

"So what? We're still kids in their eyes."

"Whose eyes are you…?" Mio inhaled sharply, looked at the ground and messed her hair. "Oh, just forget it!"

There was a dull thump and a large slam. Mio startled and searched for the source of noise. The door to her room was firmly closed. She stared at the bed, spotting a half-opened magazine the drummer had left behind.

She leaned over dazedly and picked it up. Flipping it closed, she stared at the revealed cover. One of Ritsu's favourite bands was on it, celebrating their 15th anniversary.

Mio placed the magazine over the mirror on her desk and slid into her chair. The typing and clicking resumed. The researching followed a while after.

ooo

After two days—and the sixth month mark—had passed, when it was obvious Ritsu wasn't going to mail, call or visit her, Mio checked her phone for the umpteenth time and hesitated.

_"See? You'd probably yell at me or something…."_

She left the phone alone.

ooo

_"How's your summer course, Mio-sempai?"_

"It's fine. Fine. Does yours start next week?"

_"Yes. I'm looking forward to it."_

"That's good," Mio said, fiddling with a pen in between her fingers. "That's good."

_"Is something wrong?"_

The pen slipped and clanged against the table loudly. "Eh? Oh it's nothing. Nothing's wrong," Mio replied, picking up the pen and continuing to play with it.

_"Okay … um, so is the training camp on the 31__st__?"_

"Seems so. Mugi and Yui are also free on that weekend."

_"How about Ritsu-sempai?"_

Mio bit her lip. "She's free."

_"Do we meet at the usual place?"_

"Yes. Usual place, usual time."

_"Okay. Well I shouldn't keep you away from your studies. I'll see you later, sempai. Thank you for informing me."_

"No problem. See you later, Azusa."

Mio let Azusa hang up on her first. She stared through her pen. After a while, she pressed several buttons on the phone to create the message: Camp's on 31.

She sent it to Ritsu and settled the phone on top of a textbook. She had just finished the last question when it rang. She took a deep breath before she answered it. "Hello."

_"Hey, Mio!"_

A smile tugged Mio's lips. "Hey. Did you get my mail?"

_"Yeah. 31__st__ right? The training camp."_

"Right."

_"Should organise a meeting before it. Head to the mall together."_

"And buy swimsuits like usual."

_"So? It's tradition. We're following traditions. We're being considerate."_

"I guess there's no changing that, then."

_"Like I said!"_

"Hm."

There was a long pause on the other end. Mio twiddled with the corner of a magazine.

_"Uh, look. I forgot what happened, so we're still good, right?"_

There were about a hundred words Mio would like to say to that question. She only managed a, "Um, yeah."

_"So, let's go to the beach on Tuesday."_

Mio moved her fingers away from the magazine. She suddenly felt like ripping it. "I can't. Summer course, remember?"

_"Oh, yeah. I'll wait 'til Saturday then."_

"Alright."

_"It's going to be boiling though."_

"Well it is summer."

_"It doesn't need to get this hot … stupid global warming."_

"Wait until winter comes."

_"Wait for six months? That's too long!"_

Mio cringed.

_"You've forgotten it too, right Mio?"_

"Forgot?" Mio parroted in trepidation.

Ritsu's quick answering cut off further enquires. _"Yeah, about the, y'know, what happened. That thing. A few days ago."_

"Oh. Oh, um, yeah."

_"Cool."_

Another pause. Mio looked over at the magazine she was fiddling with. She finally recognised it. "Hey."

_"Yeah?"_

"You left your magazine here. The one with GLAY on it."

_"What, really? ! I thought I lost it! Satoshi was gonna kill me!"_

"Does he need it right now?"

_"Don't think so. I guess he should be okay knowing it's not in some train carriage or_ _something."_

"Alright. I'll keep it here until you can fetch it."

_"And when's that?"_

"My course finishes on Wednesday. You can come over the day after."

_"Okay! And I'm not interrupting you, am I? From studying and that."_

"No. No, you're not."

_"Cool, then we can talk a bit long—whaaat? But I'm busy! …Okay, okay! Gimme a minute!—Argh, I gotta go. Mum's calling me."_

Mio choked back a laugh. "Okay. I'll see you on Thursday."

_"Yeah, Thursday. See ya then."_ Her voice hushed into a whisper. _"Love you."_

Before Mio could reply, the call ended.

ooo

Mio pored over her hastily scribbled notes. Her summer course had ended and she was taking the late train. She had missed the ones earlier by dilly-dallying around stores for a present. Ritsu's birthday was coming up.

The voice of the train announcer piped up. Mio listened, noting that the train was stopping a station away from her destination. She flexed her neck, having felt it cramping up, and caught a silhouette of a hugging couple outside. They moved into a pale circle of light, laughing. Mio smiled as she watched the girl struggle out of the hold half-heartedly. The boy proceeded to tickle her, and they began to glow—the moon having escaped from a cloud—and laugh harder. Then there was a terse pause as the girl leaned in to whisper.

Mio watched the boy freeze. Watched the girl pull away and yell towards the darkness.

The girl continued to yell, and Mio squinted to see there were two other people. The girl struggled again and broke away, running towards the darkness. At the same time, one of the people emerged from the shadows and ran towards Mio. Towards the closing doors of her carriage.

Mio darted her eyes down, jumping when a loud rumble originated nearby. She looked up and saw the boy had entered the carriage without her knowing. He was currently slamming his foot against the closed doors. The person, whom Mio saw enter the train, was restraining him and muttering curses.

Mio gulped and tried her absolute best in being invisible.

The train moved and the rumbling stopped. After a long while, Mio daringly peeked through her fringe to see what was happening now.

The two boys were sitting on the seats across from her. One of them laid a hand on the other's shoulder. "It's okay, man. It's okay."

His friend swore at him and shrugged off the hand. He held his head in his hands and his body was shaking violently.

"Hey, what happened?"

"She's gone now," the other snapped, his voice choked with tears.

Mio tried to tune out the rest of the conversation.

"Gone? What do you mean 'gone'?"

"How the hell would I know? She's breaking up with me."

The announcer piped up again. Mio quickly and quietly packed her notes and looked up, ready to leave. One of the boys caught her eye, the one with red eyes, and spat out, "What?"

"I'm sorry!" Mio yelped, jumping and bowing and her heart going a thousand beats per minute.

His friend gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry about that, it's—"

Mio shook her head quickly, making her head spin. "It's okay!" she stammered.

The doors took an awfully long time to open up. When they did, she dashed towards them and jumped off. She didn't dare look back as she ran for the station exit.

ooo

_"Forever?"_

ooo

"Mio, Mio!" Ritsu reached for one of Mio's ears and moved its respective headphone aside. She pressed a large seashell in its place. "Can you hear that?"

Mio jumped, turned and berated Ritsu that she should learn how to knock. Then she realised how that wouldn't have worked. She glared at Ritsu, daring her to look amused. When she finally noticed the shell, she took off the headphones, turned off the music and tilted her head, straining her ears.

"Sounds like the ocean," Mio murmured. "Really nice, isn't it?"

Ritsu gave her an incredulous look. "It's your blood pulsing."

"No, it's not."

"Yeah it is."

"Uh, no it isn't."

Ritsu sighed dramatically. "'Like the ocean'. Bleh. You and your fairytales."

Mio, ignoring the resurfacing memories, met her amber eyes and challenged them. "It's proven that the shape of a seashell amplifies certain frequencies."

"Proven that a certain seashell shapes—what?"

"It _amplifies_ certain frequencies."

"It's a seashell, Mio, not an amp."

Mio pushed the shell towards Ritsu. Ritsu raised an eyebrow before she moved it close to her own ear. Her brow furrowed as she listened intently.

"Move it back and forth."

Ritsu did as she was instructed.

"Hear the difference?"

Ritsu gave a hesitant nod.

"You're letting air—wind—in as you move the shell."

"Oh," Ritsu said, almost stammering.

"So you're really just hearing environmental sounds."

There was a three second pause before Ritsu gaped, "You're kidding."

"I'm not lying."

"You're breaking my leg." Ritsu's cramming for English was showing.

"I think you meant 'pulling my leg', but no, I'm not."

"You cast some weird spell on the thing. Don't think I didn't see it!"

"You've been watching too much Harry Potter."

"Look who's talking! You're the one that's doing the magic!" Ritsu shook the shell and pressed it against her ear again for good measure. She continued to frown.

Mio also frowned. "By the way, Ritsu."

"What?"

"Where did you get that shell?"

Ritsu froze. Mio's frown deepened.

"You went to the beach without me, didn't you?"

Ritsu had the grace to look guilty. For a moment. "You were busy!" she pointed out. "It was so hot, and Satoshi and his friend wanted to go too, so we went."

"You said you'll wait till Saturday."

"Well, I can go again on Saturday."

Mio moved her eyes to Ritsu's nose. "You're sunburnt."

"Yes, I know."

"You'd forgotten." She was talking about the sunscreen.

Ritsu looked away and scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Well you always remind me. So I got used to it."

Mio smirked. "That teaches you to go without me."

Ritsu smirked back. "Just say that you missed me, Mio."

"I missed you."

Ritsu's face went blank. "Say again?"

Mio's face, in turn, went scarlet. "I think you heard me."

"I want to hear it again."

Mio opened her mouth with the intent to yell—but stopped when she remembered red, pained eyes. Her mouth closed and re-opened. She felt tears sting her eyes.

"Mio?"

She dropped her head down, hiding and finding herself in Ritsu's arms.

"Hey," Ritsu said, her voice softening, "Okay, you don't need to say it again. I heard you."

Mio wrapped her arms around Ritsu. "Don't leave me."

"What? I told you I wasn't."

Mio made an attempt to sniff discreetly.

"Don't cry, Mio."

"I'm not crying," Mio muttered, blinking rapidly and hoping gravity wouldn't betray her.

"Okay then, you're not crying."

Mio mentally cursed when she felt a tear slip and fall.

"Huh? Is that your tongue on my neck?"

Mio coughed out a dry chuckle. "No."

"Heh."

"I love you."

Mio felt the brunette shake. "Ritsu?"

"Sorry, just having a stupid grin moment. Gimme a sec." The shaking stopped and she heard a sharp outtake of breath. "Okay. I love you too."

Mio smiled. "Idiot."

Ritsu leaned back. "Yeah, you're in love with one."

"Shut up," was the automatic response. Mio moved her arms over Ritsu's shoulders, lifting herself from the chair, and kissed her.

ooooo

**Second part will come soon. **

**I hope.**

BTW, UC., now that you told me. It would have been quite fitting if I had named this sequel _Adagietto_. Damn, too late now. D:

**Notes** (?):  
— I don't know Satoshi's official age. Wikipedia says it's stated on the K-ON! site that he's in junior high. But I can't find it. I only can find his name. Yes, Satoshi is his official name. I really didn't make it up.  
— No, the 8.0 earthquake thing was _so_ not a blatant Tokyo Magnitude reference. *whistles*  
— About the gender roles slip our drummer made, remember Ritsu recently started reading _shoujo_. A genre, when mixed with romance, that has main guys who are pretty faced and pretty insensitive—and emotionally constipated at times (thank goodness for series like _Kimi ni Todoke_ breaking that trend). Ritsu probably replaced them with Mio whilst she was reading said _shoujo_.


	3. Hold on your love, Part Two

**Warning****: This fic is now M-rated. If that's not your cup of tea, please consider the fic to be already completed and turn back. If you don't mind the rating bump at all, read on. :D Yes, this was supposedly to be part of chapter 2.**

**I wrote three-quarters of this before the release of the OVA. So please ignore the inconsistent bits.** This is one of the few things I hate about continuing series—you need to edit a hell lot and keep updated. I'm already ignoring some manga chapters … soon I'll be ignoring the second season. D:

ooooo

"Whoa, you actually got here on time!" Ritsu remarked when Yui huffed her way towards them. The other three girls gave more ordinary greetings to the exhausted brunette.

After she had gotten her breath, Yui smiled wildly. "It's thanks to Azu-nyan for being my alarm clock! I told her to call me."

"Huh? Doesn't your phone have its own? Alarm clock, I mean."

"I always sleep through it."

Ritsu gaped. "And how did you hear Azusa's call then?"

"Her ringtone's 'Fuwafuwa time'. It always wakes me up!"

The four girls stared at her, all agape.

Yui blinked at them. "What?"

"That's so sweet," Tsumugi said finally.

"See!" Ritsu pointed, "That is dedication! What happened to the rest of us?"

"Off swimming, I guess," Azusa muttered. Her eyes widened at the implication. "I mean," she added, "I-I'm not saying that I'm not going to slack off today. I…." She gave up and frowned at herself.

Mio patted her head. "It's okay, Azusa. You just finished your summer course. You should enjoy your break." Seeing how Ritsu was smirking, she directed a look at her. "Don't start."

Ritsu ignored the terse warning. "So you're not a party pooper after all," she said, earning a glare.

Tsumugi looked at her wristwatch and gasped. "We need to get going, everyone. The train will be coming in under a minute."

"I haven't bought my ticket yet!" Yui cried. She pushed her guitar case towards Azusa ("Please hold it, Azu-nyan!") and dashed off. "Hold the doors for me!" she yelled over her shoulder, "I'll catch you later!"

Tsumugi reached for Yui's trolley case but was stopped by another pair of hands. "You're carrying too much, Mugi. Lemme take it," Ritsu offered.

"Thank you Ricchan."

"C'mon you guys," Mio called from the other side of the turnstiles, "Tell Yui to hurry! The train just pulled up."

ooo

"Ah, made it!" Yui sighed, flopping into her seat. She looked at Mio and Tsumugi who were lifting all the bags onto the luggage rack. Unlike the other two, their tall height made them able to do this. "Thank you, Mio-chan, Mugi-chan. Sorry I can't help, I'm too tired."

Mio, after lugging the last bag of her share, breathed out in exertion and sat next to Ritsu. "It's no problem."

Tsumugi sat down next to Yui with a smile. Even though she had to move a couple of more bags than Mio—for she was adamant in moving her own luggage—she didn't seem out of breath.

"You know, Mugi," Ritsu said, "Why are you always carrying more stuff than us? You know, during trips like these."

Tsumugi blinked at her before tilting her head to the side. "It's a secret," she said cheerfully.

"That's not fair! We're your friends! Tell us!"

Yui laughed. "If Mugi-chan doesn't want to tell us, Ricchan, we shouldn't force her."

Ritsu looked at the lead guitarist, complete shock written all over her face. "What happened to you Yui?"

"Huh?"

"You sound so … so freakily mature."

"Eh? !" Yui cried in dismay. "I-I could say the same back to you!"

"Mugi-sempai, I heard your father owns 10GIA," Azusa said, ignoring the bickering of the two brunettes. "Does that mean you're usually carrying instruments around at home?"

Tsumugi nodded. "Yup. People often come to our house so they can use one of our studios."

"One of our studios," Azusa repeated. She looked at the other three to see if they shared her disbelief. Apparently, they were already used to it.

"Hey," Mio muttered, directing a look at Ritsu and Yui. They were in the midst of an arm-wrestling match, and they didn't seem to hear her. "Oi!" The two stopped and turned. "Quiet down, will you? People are staring."

Mio arched an eyebrow when the two stuck their tongue out, acting cute, in unison. Yui also raised a gentle fist to hit the side of her head. "Sorry Mio-chan."

"Yeah," Ritsu acquiesced, "Sorry mum."

Mio frowned. "Don't complain when you don't get a kiss, then."

Ritsu immediately latched herself onto her, apologising profusely. Mio pushed her away half-heartedly, mumbling, "People are staring. Stop it."

Tsumugi and Yui cooed.

Azusa propped her elbow by the window sill and rested her chin against her palm. She smiled. "They're really like a married couple, aren't they?"

Mio and Ritsu froze. "Married?" they spluttered.

"When's the wedding?" Yui teased. "Be sure to tell us before it happens. We do need to go and buy a dress for it."

"Yui!"

Tsumugi sighed happily. "Imagine their children. How beautiful they would be."

"Stop planning our future without our consent!" Mio shrilled. When she felt the eyes of strangers on her, she felt she might stay red forever, and hid behind Ritsu.

After a long while in coaxing Mio out of her hiding, Ritsu brought up a new topic. "So, any of you got any ideas for our band name?"

"Why are we talking about this again?" Mio asked, sighing.

"Houkago Teatime is too long to say!"

"It really is a mouthful," Azusa agreed.

All five girls hummed in thought.

"Why not H-Teatime?" Ritsu suggested. "Kinda like P-Model."

"Um," Tsumugi said, "I don't really think that's a good idea, Ricchan."

Ritsu pouted. "Why?"

"Well, whenever I think of the Roman letter H, I think of 'hate'."

Ritsu blinked. "Oh, okay. Let's not use it then."

After Tsumugi had turned away, Ritsu looked at Mio and whispered, "What does that mean again? It sounded really familiar."

Mio leaned towards Ritsu's ear, explaining it. Ritsu frowned after Mio had finished. "How weird," Ritsu whispered. "I was thinking of 'hot', not—what's-it-callie?"

"'Hate'."

"Yeah, that."

Mio turned to the others. "You do know Sawako-sensei has already shortened it for us, right?" she reminded. When she received four faces, none of them carrying a hint of recollection, she continued, "HTT, remember?"

"Oh," Tsumugi said. She then added in embarrassment, "I can't believe I'd forgotten that."

"I don't even remember it," Yui said.

"Same here," Ritsu agreed.

They turned to Azusa, who flushed and shook her head.

"Well then," Ritsu continued, "that's settled! We do need a new one!"

"Why don't we use Go-Teatime?" Yui suggested.

"We're quite insistent on keeping 'Teatime', aren't we," Azusa remarked quietly.

Ritsu threw a look at Azusa before lifting the ends of her fringe to her lips. Azusa glanced at the brunette and snorted. She doubled over in laughter.

Yui slammed a fist against her palm. "Goatee!" she exclaimed in English.

The other girls gave her blank stares.

"It was a moustache, Yui," Ritsu said finally.

Yui shook her head violently. "I mean the band name. Let's call it Goatee!"

"No."

"Why?" Yui whined.

"It's so random."

Yui's face went blank. "No it isn't."

"Where the heck did you get the idea from?"

"Think Pokémon."

"What?"

"Oh," Mio said in understanding. "It's a portmanteau of Houkago Teatime."

"Yup!" Yui said, nodding happily. "See, Mio-chan knows what I'm talking about!"

Ritsu stared at Mio. "How the hell did you figure that out?"

Mio raised an eyebrow. She didn't answer.

Yui looked over at Azusa and Tsumugi for support. "Hey, hey, so is Goatee good?"

"It sounds perfect, Yui-chan."

"I guess it works."

"And Azu-nyan," Yui continued, "I think Ui's going to join the Light Music Club next year."

Azusa brightened up. "Is that so?"

Yui nodded. "Yup. Ui's been playing with Giita a lot recently." She snickered and added, "I think she's falling in love with him."

"Lemme take it back," Ritsu said, also snickering. "You're not mature at all."

"How mean, Ricchan!"

Azusa suddenly gasped in awe, drawing their attention. When she saw their questioning gazes, she pointed to the window. They turned. A smile latched on each girl's face.

"Ocean! How I missed you," Ritsu and Yui cried.

"Ritsu. You just went to the beach several days ago," Mio said.

Ritsu turned around and leaned towards her. "And you missed me after several days," she whispered. "So what?"

Mio pointedly looked the other way.

"Yui! Let's open the window!"

"Okay!"

"One, two!"

There was a click. They proceeded to holler.

Mio watched them lean over the window sill. Then, for some inexplicable reason, her heart jumped to her throat and she grabbed the hems of Ritsu's and Yui's shirts. She pulled them back.

"What, Mio? !"

"Mio-chan! What…!"

"It's dangerous," Mio hissed.

The two pouted. "Party pooper," Ritsu mumbled.

"What'd happen if you did fall off, _hm_?"

The two blinked at her. Ritsu ah-ed and replied in a rush. "Were you thinking of the scene where this kid jumped off the train and got his limbs—"

"Stoop! Stop!"

ooo

This year, there were no arguments if practice or play came first. Azusa and Mio had grudgingly accepted the fact that their club did not work that way. All of them were changing in the same room, having worn their swimsuits under their casual attire.

Ritsu stared at the mirror with the ubiquitous, yellow hair accessory in her hands. "Do you like me with the hair band on or not?" she asked, having seen Mio walk up to her.

There was a pause before Mio replied, "I don't mind either way."

Ritsu tipped her head to the side. "You sure?"

"Just wear the hair band," Mio said, sighing.

Ritsu tipped her head the other way. "I knew it. I do look weird without it."

"It's just that your hair will get in your eyes! Didn't I tell you that…."

"I look cute without it?"

"Yeah," Mio murmured, averting her eyes, "cute."

Ritsu smiled. "You look cute too," she said, making Mio mildly blush. Ritsu's smile widened. She nodded to herself. "Yup, very cute," she clarified. She slid the hair band on and turned around. "What should we do first?" she asked, addressing the rest of the group. "Volleyball? Swimming? Being stranded on an island?"

"The last one, Ricchan!" Yui cried.

"Well, you guys do whatever you want," Mio said, rummaging through her bag. "I'm going to read a book in the shade."

"How sad," Ritsu commented. "Didn't you say 'enjoy summer break' a second ago?"

"I am enjoying it. Unlike you, I enjoy reading books."

At the other end of the room, Azusa said, "Why are you putting that around me?"

"It's a tube, Azu-nyan."

"I said why, not what it is, Yui-sempai."

"Mio-chan," Tsumugi called out, just as the girl was going to leave the room. "You should play with us. Volleyball's quite fun."

"Don't bother, Mugi," Ritsu said. "She sucks at sports."

Mio, almost imperceptibly, bristled. "I'm not going to fall for that obvious trick," she scoffed.

Ritsu gasped. "Azusa! Mio just called you stupid!"

Azusa stopped fighting against Yui's attempts in decorating her. "Eh?"

"Don't put words in my mouth!" Mio fumed, waving her book about. "Do you want this to be thrown at you?"

Ritsu glanced at the book and saw it was a hardcover. She gulped and repeated her statement. Mio swung her arm and Ritsu instantly fell onto the floor, clenching her eyes.

There was no sound of impact, only laughter. Ritsu peeked an eye open. She watched Yui bend down and reach for her arms. "Mio-chan tricked you!" she snickered, pulling her up.

After she had gotten to her feet, Ritsu ran after Mio. She noticed how the other three were at her heels so she spun around in mid-step and yelled, "Let's tackle Mio!"

ooo

"Get off me!" Mio managed to huff, victimised by a fit of giggles.

Azusa stood up first, having been the last to jump onto the pile. Tsumugi and Yui got up next. All of them were fellow victims.

"Ritsu," Mio said, "get off me."

Ritsu rolled over until she lay on her back, laughing.

Yui looked at Azusa. She then stopped laughing. "Azu-nyan," she said in disappointment, "what happened to the tube I put you in?"

Azusa puffed out her cheeks. "I took it off back inside. It's hard to run with that on."

"I run fine with it."

Tsumugi pulled Mio to her feet. "Sorry for that, Mio-chan," she said meekly, "I hope we weren't too heavy."

Mio shook her head. "All in good fun, isn't it?" She turned and watched Ritsu lay suspiciously still with her tongue hanging out. She kicked the sand towards her and didn't receive a response.

Yui knelt beside the drummer, and after a moment, began to pile handfuls of sand on top of her. Azusa, who wore an uncharacteristically devilish smile, helped her.

Mio and Tsumugi glanced at each other. They joined in the burying.

Several moments later, Ritsu's eyes flew open. She regarded the mountain of sand before her. "What did you put on me?"

"Boobs," Yui answered.

"You make it sound like I got none."

Ritsu watched Azusa's and Yui's face become amused. She scowled and added, "I'm gonna get you for that."

The sand was shoved and brushed away.

Yui gaped. "Mio-chan…."

"Sorry," Mio said, with a smile that contradicted her word.

Azusa squeaked as Ritsu sat up. Hand in hand, the two guitarists ran away from the freed drummer. Following them was the laughter of the other two band mates.

"It seems like it will be an enjoyable time for us," Tsumugi commented.

Mio nodded. She tried not to feel guilty when she chortled, having seen Yui trip over her own feet.

Tsumugi glanced at the sky. "Mio-chan, can you help me set up?"

Mio retrieved her book, which had fallen after she was attacked. "Of course."

They went back for the umbrella, blanket, towels and Yui's swimming tube.

ooo

"Are you getting turned on, Mio?" Ritsu asked.

Mio's hands froze. She was in the middle of applying sunscreen on Ritsu's back. "No," she grounded out.

"Aw, I'm hurt."

The hands moved again. Ritsu gave a long moan.

"Don't do that!" Mio exclaimed.

"I can't help it," Ritsu said, her voiced muffled. Mio knew she was trying to hide her snickering. "C'mon Mio, keep on rubbing … wouldn't mind if you went lower too."

Mio pulled away in a huff and closed the lid of the lotion bottle. She was immensely glad that the other three had hurried off for a swim.

"Mio. I'm going to get sunburnt if you don't finish."

Mio cringed. She didn't want that. A whiney Ritsu was worse than a devious one. So she grudgingly went back to work and tried to ignore the continued moans. Quickly checking for any skin that she hadn't gone over, she moved away. "There. Done."

"No you're not."

"Huh?"

Ritsu moved her face to the side. "You need to put some on my bottom."

"What!"

"C'mon Mio! My adorable bottom is going to get burnt if you don't put some on."

Too flustered to notice Ritsu's swimsuit covered that particular body part, Mio shoved the bottle towards Ritsu's face. "Then you do it. You can reach there."

"Ah, you want to watch me touch myself? Oh you naughty girl!"

"I am going to kill you."

Ritsu sat up and pulled Mio in for a quick kiss. "No you're not."

"That's cheating," Mio mumbled, turning away.

"I'll make it up to you, since it's your turn now."

Mio faced her. "Eh?"

Ritsu gestured towards the ground.

Mio felt something twist in her stomach. "Uh, I'm fine. I'm going to stay in the shade anyway."

"No you're not. I'm gonna pull you out there later. And I don't want my Mio getting sunburnt."

The possessiveness caught onto her and before Mio knew it, she was laying on her stomach. She had second thoughts, though, when she sensed a foreboding aura from the drummer. "Um," she stammered, "don't do anything weird, okay?"

"I'll try."

"No. You don't try. You _don't do_ anything weird." She felt something cool on her back and she tensed. Relaxed when a warm hand spread the feeling onto more skin. She stared down, at the blanket, until her sight blurred, wondering what exact hue the green was. The hand went lower. Mio held her breath. Ritsu stayed within the appropriate bounds.

"Okay, I'm done."

"Huh? Oh."

She sat up and stared at Ritsu. She stared back. Mio watched her eyes flicker and her mouth curl into an ominous smile.

Mio read her eyes and looked down. A moment later, the realisation hit her and she crossed her arms, turning scarlet. "Sh-shut up! I just felt cold!"

The smile widened. "It's 34 degrees today, Mio." Before Mio could regather her argument, Ritsu continued, "But there really is a nice breeze, huh?"

Mio nodded with more head shakes than necessary.

ooo

"Azu-nyan, are you okay? You're not sunburnt, right?"

Azusa checked her reflection on the hand-held mirror. Her skin carried splotches of red and she knew they would peel later. "I'm sunburnt," she replied, grimacing.

"Ow," Yui said softly.

"There's not much we can do for that, is there?" Tsumugi said forlornly.

Azusa gave a quiet sigh. "No. Nothing works. I get burnt so easily." She tried to cheer herself up by turning to Mio and asking, "So how was volleyball, Mio-sempai?"

Mio smiled lopsidedly. "It was fine. I guess. Yeah, great."

"You sucked," Ritsu said.

Just as Mio was going to smack the drummer's arm, Tsumugi clapped her hands together. "Time to practise, everyone."

Ritsu and Yui melted to the floor. Mio and Azusa tried to revive them.

"Yui-sempai," Azusa said, "Please get up."

Mio poked Ritsu on the side. "Oi, get up."

The two brunettes remained on the floor.

Tsumugi's lips twisted in worry. "I have some cake in the fridge—"

"I'm up!"

"And Azusa-chan," Tsumugi continued, "I think you can take off the tube now."

ooo

Mio sat on a chair outside the bathroom, finishing off the chapter she had started in the morning. A towel was around her neck and she would every so often reach up and ruffle her hair with it. She was waiting.

Ritsu and Yui had followed Tsumugi to the kitchen for their cake, leaving Azusa and Mio to take advantage of the two bathrooms. When they had finished their showers, Ritsu and Yui were _still_ eating. It was until Tsumugi had returned, with a towel wrapped around her head, did they pick themselves up from the ground.

Mio frowned. Another speck of water had landed on the page she was reading. She gave up, closed the book and looked up at the resounding footsteps.

Ritsu had finally left the comfortable running water. Wearing nothing but a towel.

Mio concentrated on observing at her freed fringe, finding how interesting it looked when damp. As if Ritsu had shared the thought, she shook her head and ran a hand through her hair, attempting to dry it out. Mio blinked as a water droplet fell and landed near a collarbone. It then travelled over it, crawling down until it disappeared behind the towel.

Not realising how her eyes had derailed from Ritsu's forehead, Mio stared unblinkingly.

Ritsu continued to mess with her hair. The towel looked as if it was going to unravel.

"Ritsu?"

Ritsu turned to her. "Yeah?"

"I hear Azusa screaming at Yui in the hallway."

"Oh. Well let's go before she turns on us."

"Okay."

Ritsu dropped the towel and threw on a top and shorts on. Ritsu was a quick dresser, Mio had learned. So she didn't look away.

It was when the drummer had slid her hair back and made for the door did she address Mio again. "C'mon."

"Go on ahead. I'll catch up later."

There was a surprised raise of the eyebrows. "Azusa'll be disappointed with you."

"I'll take care of that."

Ritsu tilted her head. She then shrugged and left.

Mio threw the book at the chair's feet. Two showers in a row wouldn't hurt.

ooo

Surprisingly, Ritsu didn't have to be asked thrice to practise. She immediately picked up the drumsticks and settled behind the drum set, waiting for the guitarists to tune their instruments.

Yui, seeing how her fellow procrastinator was not slacking off, decided she should follow. She quickly fixed Giita into perfection and waited for Azusa to finish. As soon as the latter placed her tuner away, she was engaged with some chit-chat. But it was quickly interrupted by the taps of sticks. Yui turned around and stared at Ritsu. She stared back.

There was a standoff. And Ritsu tapped her sticks again.

The practice went smoothly. So smoothly, in fact, that Mio was starting to feel unnerved. She glanced at Azusa. She was looking a bit jittery as well.

Then.

Ritsu: "I give up! Let's take a break!"

Yui fell onto her back. "So hungry…."

Azusa knelt beside the guitarist, looking regretful. "Yui-sempai, please get up. The ground's dirty."

"I'll go and fetch the food," Tsumugi announced. She turned off her keyboard and made for the door.

"I'll go too," Mio called out.

"Me three!" Ritsu yelled.

"Me three," Yui mumbled from the floor.

Azusa stayed behind. She continued her quest in prying the guitarist off her backside.

ooo

After Tsumugi had nicely interrogated Azusa on her revival of Yui, the latter swung to Mio and Ritsu. She asked around her chopsticks, "What did your parents say?"

Mio swallowed before she replied. "What do—"

"Say what?" Ritsu asked with her mouth full.

Mio gave her a reproving look.

"You know," Yui elaborated, "when you told them you're together."

Mio watched Azusa and Tsumugi stop eating. A tense silence settled.

"We haven't told them yet," Ritsu finally said.

There was a pause.

"Would you like some seconds, Yui-chan?" Tsumugi offered.

"Yes please!" Yui only passed her bowl and an appreciative glance towards their feeder. She seemed to be having problems with Ritsu's response. "How come Ricchan?"

Ritsu played around with her food. "Isn't it obvious?"

"What's obvious?"

Azusa answered in place of the drummer. Her voice was quiet. "Their parents might not approve, is what Ritsu-sempai is trying to say."

Yui accepted Tsumugi's refill of rice. Her face, all the while, carried a mild frown. "Why wouldn't they approve? Mio-chan and Ricchan love each other." She then grinned. "Ricchan can be forgetful sometimes, but she's a good person!"

"Says the one who forgets her chords," Ritsu snorted. Her laughter was strained.

"And," Yui continued gracefully, "who cannot like Mio-chan?"

The youngest guitarist looked at her half-empty bowl. "I don't think they share your views, Yui-sempai," she said.

Yui turned to Azusa, freeing Ritsu from her concentrated stare. "Are you saying you don't like Mio-chan and Ricchan?" she gasped.

Azusa's human reaction at being cornered overrode her logical mind. The fact being that Yui's sudden line of argument did not make sense. "Of course I like Mio-sempai and," she made a split second's hesitation, "Ritsu-sempai!" She looked at Ritsu and forced a grin. "Even though she's a bit irresponsible."

Ritsu copied the notion. "Why, aren't you a disrespectful midget?"

Mio watched on, floundering over what to say to ease the tension.

Tsumugi presented the answer: dessert.

ooo

"Mio-chan, Ricchan, your room is over there," Tsumugi said calmly, pointing to the door across from her.

Mio and Ritsu looked at the given direction and then back at the blonde. "Why?" they said simultaneously.

Yui, who was behind Tsumugi and in the room the two girls were trying to enter, giggled. "We have to give you lovebirds some space, you know."

"Go back inside, Yui!" Ritsu yelled.

Yui snickered at her.

Mio gave a pointed look at Tsumugi. "You don't need to do this, Mugi. Isn't that room used by…."

"The guests," Tsumugi said simply. "It's a guest room. There are three bedrooms in this villa."

Azusa's head appeared above Tsumugi's shoulder. "Didn't you say this villa was the smallest, Mugi-sempai?" she asked.

"Yup. It's the smallest."

Azusa paled.

"Mugi," Mio started to say, but she was cut off.

"Five people can't fit in my bed, Mio-chan."

"We're sleeping in your bed?" Yui exclaimed. "Yay!"

Mio and Ritsu watched Azusa about to say something, but Tsumugi ushered her and Yui inside. Tsumugi then looked over her shoulder and smiled at them. "Good night."

Mio and Ritsu stared at the closed door blankly.

"You heard her," Ritsu said, turning around. "Let's go Mio."

Mio followed silently.

Ritsu had been looking contemplative and almost sad whenever she wasn't talking. She still hadn't found what to say but, as she watched Ritsu, she decided that as soon as they entered their room, she would bring up the topic. Somehow.

And somehow, before a word could escape Mio's mouth, Ritsu made a bee-line to the bed and keeled over, fast asleep.

"…."

She sighed at her recent ability in being late in things and closed the door, also locking it as it was her habit. She then shifted Ritsu in a more comfortable position and placed her hair band at the bedside table. Flinging a blanket over the drummer and herself, she drifted off to sleep uneasily.

ooo

_"Well, don't let me bother you two."_

ooo

Mio awoke and wondered, for a brief moment, if she was blind. After a minute of staring, she recognised where she was. She grabbled for her phone on the bedside table and watched the numbers. It was 3:35 a.m. She looked at the window across from her. Its blinds were closed, but it still allowed a few rays of moonlight to pass through.

Mio turned onto her other side, searching for Ritsu's form. It was shaking and, Mio felt something inside painfully constrict, she sounded as if she was muffling her sobs. Mio reached out and softly tapped Ritsu on the shoulder. Ritsu was instantly silenced and stilled.

"Ritsu?" Mio whispered. "Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh fine," Ritsu replied, her voice oddly strange. Mio watched the slight movements of Ritsu's arms, as if she was discreetly brushing away her tears. "Uh, go back to sleep."

Mio hesitated. She bit her lip and went ahead. "Are you crying?"

"What? No!"

"As if," Mio murmured. She moved closer. "I heard you."

"Just drop it."

"Don't make me turn on the lights," Mio said, hoping it sounded like a threat.

"Okay! I'll tell you."

Mio hummed in encouragement.

"I was," Ritsu moved her head and Mio didn't fully hear the rest.

Mio stared, wondering if she had heard her right. "You were…?"

There was a huff and the ground seemed to bounce around for a moment. The rocky motions threw Mio's senses off until she realised she was on a bed, not a futon, and Ritsu was lying on top of her. She knew the expression on Ritsu's face. There were no tears at all.

"No," Mio said, with mild panic and embarrassment.

She was kissed and ignored. Mio felt for Ritsu's shoulder and nudged her away. "Ritsu," she hissed, "do you realise where we are?"

"The door's locked."

"They'll _hear_."

She was kissed again, longer and harder this time that she had trouble breaking away.

"C'mon Mio, it's been ages."

"We just did it on…," Mio trailed off when Ritsu pulled off her shirt.

Ritsu threw the clothing behind her and smiled. "On…?"

Slate grey eyes went over Ritsu's skin. Mio had trouble remembering now. "Uhh," she answered.

"See?"

Cool air grazed her stomach. Mio snapped her head up, almost head butting Ritsu, to see what was going on. Ritsu was removing her clothes.

Mio placed a steady hand at the hem of her shirt. "Not now."

Her mouth was claimed again. Ritsu kissed her hungrily, and her hands were busy. Mio fought against them and lost. Ritsu broke away, grinning, and then met her lips once more. Mio also lost her shirt.

Kisses were pressed along her jaw and neck. And Ritsu's body was pleasantly pressed against Mio's, that she half-wondered why she was resisting in the first place. She stopped thinking when the kisses reached her breasts.

"How long did you wait?" Ritsu suddenly asked.

"Huh…?"

"Or did you touch yourself after I left?"

"What are you," Mio stopped speaking, interrupted by Ritsu's curious tongue. She shivered when she felt Ritsu sigh.

"Thanks for ruining my fantasy, Mio."

_That's it,_ Mio thought. She grabbed Ritsu and pushed her onto her back.

Ritsu smirked. "What?"

"Shut up for once."

"Why—" Mio pressed her mouth on Ritsu's neck, turning words into whimpers.

There was an insistent hand at the back of her head. And Mio easily continued, licking and sucking the pulsing skin. Her own hands were blindly pushing the rest of Ritsu's clothes to her knees, for impatient hips had grinded against hers.

"Ready?" Mio whispered.

There was another whimper. The hips continued to be impatient.

Mio kissed Ritsu on the mouth briefly before she returned to her neck. She slid a finger in. And quickly added another when Ritsu moaned and moved against her. She paused. Adjusting herself so she didn't lay directly on top of Ritsu, she felt for that sensitive spot. There was a gasp, followed by moans when she started to rub. She adjusted again. Her other hand lay at the other side, stroking Ritsu every so often. Bringing her closer and closer.

There was a choked groan and Ritsu pressed against her, shuddering violently and panting.

Mio carefully slid out her fingers, and wiped them with a tissue she snatched from the bedside table. She pushed herself up with her elbows. Ritsu's eyes were closed, but there was already a smile on her lips.

Mio tilted her head. The smile looked awfully familiar and before she could recognise it, she was flipped onto her back and kissed. She shivered when she felt cold air against her thighs and groin. She closed her eyes. Only to open them when she felt a mouth around a nipple. She lifted her head and watched Ritsu move lower and lower. Then the realisation slapped her when the moonlight made its appearance on Ritsu's outline.

"Hey," she stammered, "I don't think that's a good idea—"

"Why?" Ritsu whispered as she lifted Mio's legs over her shoulders. "You love this."

"B-but we're not at—" Mio hastily covered her mouth with a hand. The other was gripping the bed sheets, hoping the struggle would help in keeping her quiet. But as Ritsu's own mouth and tongue kept busy, both hands were clenching and pulling at the fabric. Gasping when Ritsu twirled her tongue, she glanced at the door in panic.

"Lemme hear you Mio." A long lick accompanied the breathy request. Then another. And when she felt her inside and a tongue at that tiny but sensitive spot, her self-control almost completely snapped. Whimpers escaped, and Ritsu pressed on, abandoning her teases and taunts. Mio hissed in delight. She was close already, and she lifted her hips and clenched her fists, unsure if she should hold it out or give in. There was no time to decide, though, as intense pleasure and an unrestrained moan ripped through her.

When Mio recovered, Ritsu was laying next to her, looking as if she was going to laugh. Mio figured she might have made a face, because she was snuggled into almost defensively. She then remembered what had happened earlier. Hours ago.

"You can laugh if you want," Mio whispered.

"Hn?"

Mio considered whether to drop it and pass it off as nothing important. She dismissed the thought. "I said you can laugh."

"Why?"

"Because … I don't know …."

_I don't want you to be sad._

"Mio doesn't know something?" Ritsu murmured, stroking Mio's hair, "That's new."

Mio's eyelids lagged to a close. Before she drifted off, Ritsu spoke again.

"I'm glad to have met you, Mio."

ooo

Ritsu awoke with the feeling of light kisses on her lips, the corners of her eyes and forehead. She smiled and watched Mio, who had apparently woken up before her. And, unfortunately, hadn't left the bed. The kisses continued and Ritsu brushed away the idea of teasing Mio about her morning breath.

There was a strangled murmur.

Ritsu blinked slowly, still laden with sleep. "Wah?"

Mio blushed a bit. "I said, good morning. And…."

"And?"

"I love you."

Ritsu laughed dryly. She cleared her throat. "Love you too." She then yawned, stretching languidly. Smacking her lips, she added, "I need to pee."

Mio poked her shoulder. "Then go. And brush your teeth. Your breath stinks."

"And yours doesn't?" Ritsu muttered, flinging off the blanket.

Mio threw a pillow at her. Then she loudly gasped. Ritsu looked across. Mio was off the bed and rummaging through her bag. Moments later, she hurried over to her.

"What?" Ritsu asked finally.

"First, I'm really, _really_ sorry."

"Huh?"

ooo

Tsumugi watched Azusa and Yui below her half-opened eyelids. They weren't doing anything particularly interesting—just sipping their tea and talking.

"I'm surprised I'm the one that has to be woken up by you, Yui-sempai," Azusa said, muffling a yawn. "How come you manage to be late on other times?"

Yui took a bite of toast and hummed. "I guess it's because I know we're going to do something fun straight away."

"Eating breakfast with us is fun?"

"Yup! It's fun."

"But didn't you say that if Azusa-chan hadn't called you yesterday, you'd be late?" Tsumugi asked.

Yui threw the last bit of toast into her mouth. "Running to the station isn't fun."

"Um, if you had woken up early you wouldn't need to run, Yui-sempai."

"Walking alone isn't fun either!" As if to show her point, Yui leaned towards Azusa for a tight hug.

"Yui-sempai! You're going to spill my tea!"

Tsumugi was in bliss. As if the gods above were in her favour today, Mio and Ritsu stumbled into the room. She promptly stood up and served them their tea.

"Did you get a good night sleep?" Tsumugi asked. Ritsu was looking livelier than the last time she'd seen her.

"Did you sleep the wrong way, Ritsu-sempai?" Azusa asked.

Ritsu flew a hand to her neck, where a heat patch lay. "Yeah. Slept the wrong way."

Tsumugi watched Mio, who refused to meet anyone's eyes. "I guess it was a good night then, yes, Mio-chan?" she asked.

For the first time, she received a glare from her friend.

Tsumugi smiled. She knew there was a hint of thanks in there.

ooooo

**A/N**: So I didn't end up trolling you again with the M thing. Ahaha. Enjoy the post-coital fluff in this one. It's my apology for trolling a few of you with _Chances are_.

I kinda hurried in posting this part. This will be the last update I'll do in a while. Need to catch up with other stuff. Like, you know, my lack of social life and school and all that shit.

**Notes** (?):  
— Lol, P-Model. I'm breaking the fourth wall there. I kinda doubt Ritsu would've heard of them. All five girls got their surnames from the band. Poor Hirasawa Susumu is now so exceptionally famous on twitter because he's sometimes mistaken as Hirasawa Yui. BTW, if you somehow didn't get what H can stand for for us non-Japanese anime fans—I'm not telling you. I might get shot by a native. I've been cyber-shot too many times.

— Goatee (ゴーティー)  
Houkago Teatime (ホウカ**ゴ****[**ー**]****ティー**タイム)

Equals portmanteau!


End file.
